Location: Barbara McIntyre Theatre
Moderator: Barry Freeman
Robert Motum, “The Divine Right of Queens: Mapping Micronational Rehearsals of Queer Sovereignty”
In the summer of 2020—amid lockdowns, bubbles, and stalled travel—the Wall Street Journal asked its readers: “If COVID-19 has put the kibosh on your summer travel plans, why not form your own country?” The front-page story introduced the world of micronations: self-declared nation-states unrecognized by any other. From a house in Montreal to a land claim in Antarctica, more than 200 micronations exist globally. Through expansive worldbuilding, these projects invent or rewrite histories and national narratives. They create flags, flowers, anthems, passports, citizenship documents, medals, currencies, and elaborate constitutions; they stage elections and design lines of succession. Many even participate in international summits such as MicroCon and the Micronational Olympics.
Founded for reasons ranging from earnest to satirical, micronations have recently seen increased participation from LGBTQ+ creators responding to anti-trans legislation in Florida, Texas, and Quebec. These projects function as activist interventions, using worldbuilding to imagine safe, Queer-centered futurities. Where official governments may deny gender identities or restrict rights, these micronations issue passports that reflect citizens’ lived experience and enshrine protections for same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ rights within their invented constitutions.
Examining how these Queer-led projects mobilize worldbuilding to articulate political demands and alternate futures, my paper frames micronations as inherently performative (Austin; Derrida; Butler). Without recognition or legal standing to justify their existence, micronations come into being through performance alone. Turning to Queer futurity and concepts of utopic and heterotopic space (Muñoz; Foucault; Thompkins), the paper argues that micronations simultaneously expose the violence of the nation-state while rehearsing its hopeful alternatives.
John Olusola, “Performance and Black Migration in Canadian Prairie: a case study of Afolabi’s Past Shadow, Present Shade”
This article critically examines the intersection of performance and Black migration in the Canadian Prairies through the lens of Taiwo Afolabi’s Past Shadow, Present Shade, illuminating how dramaturgy, aesthetics, and the politics of migration converge on stage. It explores how socially engaged theatre can dramatize immigrant experiences and systemic inequalities, celebrate diasporic resilience, and offer a nonviolent, dialogic space for peaceful coexistence. The work is situated in the Prairie among the African immigrants of 1903 and contemporary experiences, created by artists of African descent and other racialized communities. The analysis discusses how the play’s structure developed from community-driven skits and monologues, and engages pressing questions of identity, cultural memory, belonging, and social justice. Using a qualitative investigative approach and textual analysis, the paper examines what constitutes racism. How are immigrants responding to social inequalities? In what ways might performance offer a balanced narrative? What are the solutions to the continued tension in the multicultural society of the Prairie? The play, through its multivocal narrative strategies and intercultural aesthetic choices, illuminates the challenges and contributions of African immigrants in Canada. Ultimately, the performance reimagines Canada’s official multicultural politics and expands the nation’s performance traditions.
Biographies:
Dr. Robert Motum is a playwright, director, and researcher whose work has appeared in The Drama Review, Theatre Research in Canada, Canadian Theatre Review, and collections from Palgrave and Routledge. He is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto’s CDTPS and teaches at the Rotman School of Management.
John Olusola is a theatre researcher and a Postdoc Fellow at the faculty of Media, Arts, and Performance, University of RegiunaHe received a PhD in Theatre and Performing Arts from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Nigeria. His research interests include African Theatre and Performance; Cultural Studies; Creative Economy; Applied Theatre; Post- Colonial Studies, Dramatic Literature and Criticism, and In-Flight Entertainment. He was a Visiting Researcher at the Centre for Socially Engaged Theatre (C-SET), University of Regina. He is a certified Emotional Intelligence Coach.