Harlem Duet » (1st Edition)

Djanet Sears is a Toronto playwright, director, and actor. She is the author of the highly acclaimed Afrika Solo, which has toured extensively and was broadcast on CBC Radio’s Morningside. Harlem Duet, originally workshopped at New York City’s Joseph Papp Public Theatre, was produced by Toronto’s Nightwood Theatre and premiered at the Tarragon Theatre in April, 1997.

Winner of the Governor General’s Award for Drama. Winner of the Chalmers Play Award. A rhapsodic blues tragedy. Harlem Duet could be the prelude to Shakepeare’s Othello, and recounts the tale of Othello and his first wife Billie (yes, before Desdemona). Set in contemporary Harlem at the corner of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X boulevards, the play explores the space where race and sex intersect. Harlem Duet is Billie’s story.