The University of Windsor welcomes actress, singer, and playwright Leslie McCurdy to its virtual stage Feb. 16 as part of its celebration of Black History Black Futures.

McCurdy will perform her one-woman play, Things My Fore-Sisters Saw, in a Microsoft Teams Live event.  In her play, McCurdy portrays four historic Black female figures who affected change in Canada. They are Marie-Joseph Angelique, an enslaved woman who was convicted of burning down much of Montreal in 1734; Rose Fortune, the first female police officer in North America who helped freedom seekers settle in the Nova Scotian town of Annapolis Royal; Mary-Ann Shadd, the first North American woman to edit and publish a newspaper; and Viola Desmond, who graces Canada’s $10 bill and is lauded for refusing to leave the whites-only section of a theatre in Nova Scotia in 1946.

After the performance, McCurdy will answer questions from the audience.

McCurdy describes the play as “important history, revealed as personal experiences.” She said the stories are significant because “each of us is a product of those who came before us.”

For a preview, visit Things My Fore-Sisters Saw on McCurdy’s website.

McCurdy is an international performer named Windsor artist of the year in 2014 and performing artist of the year in 2000. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance and a teaching certificate from the University of Michigan and has worked as a choreographer and teaching assistant during residencies in Detroit.

The Teams Live performance of Things My Fore-Sisters Saw is sponsored by the Leddy Library; the faculties of nursing, law, and education; and the departments of women’s studies, history, and English.

The performance begins at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 16. The event runs until 2:30 p.m.

Register for the event here.

—Sarah Sacheli