About the Play:

HARD TO FIND BOOK, only a very limited number of copies are still available.

Blacks Don't Bowl is a full-length drama by Vadney Haynes. What do you do when your vision of the world and yourself is shaken to the core? An insightful examination of whether it's easier to picture a young black man in a bowling alley or on a basketball court. Blacks Don't Bowl tests the pop culture reference in a fast-paced drama with clashing views about image, identity, and arts grants.

Blacks Don't Bowl explores stereotypes and identity. When two Montréal artists create a government-funded photography exhibition from images of thugs, dancehall queens, and pimps, Black community leader Frank Simmons is outraged. Though the show's Black creators Janeen and Maurice insist that the images are meant to be empowering ("dignity through re-appropriation," as one of the photographers puts it), Frank finds the images to be limiting and demeaning pop-culture stereotypes. Frank fights with Johanne, the city hall bureaucrat in charge of culture grants, to have the show closed. What else is a man who is highly opinionated – especially about being Black and the Black experience – to do? What Frank does not count on is art's ability to transform as he is forced to confront himself in a way that is both disturbing and revealing. Little will be the same afterwards for Frank, the artists, and perhaps the audience as Blacks Don't Bowl covers a lot of thematic ground.

Blacks Don't Bowl premiered in 2006 at Black Theatre Workshop in Montréal, Québec. It was nominated for the Masques Award for Best English Theatre Production, and voted Best Play of the Year in the Montreal Mirror's annual audience survey.

Cast: 2 women, 4 men

What people say:

"…a plot of Shakespearean complexity… a Montréal writer dealing with often painful truths in our own backyard — theatre can't get any better than this." — The Gazette

"The perfect prompter for a continued discussion once the lights come back up." — Hour

"…a sneaky charmer: a light-hearted, winsome piece with a serious core… when a play can generate such a good vibe, and be this energetic and engaging, it's impossible not to like it." — montreal.com

About the Playwright:

Vadney S. Haynes is a Barbados-born Canadian psychology teacher and psychotherapist who has lived in Montréal for more than 50 years. He divides his time between teaching Psychology at Champlain Regional College and his private Psychotherapy practice. At various times he has been a producer, broadcaster and music programmer for radio stations in Montréal. His passion for music is matched by his love for film and CFL football. Blacks Don't Bowl is his first produced play.