Danse Macabre

Wonderful play that needs to devolped and restaged bigger and bigger. I loved it so much, I didn't want it to end. Congratulations to the uber talented Rhoma Spencer, the entire cast and crew.

Stephen Low's NNN review of Danse Macabre from NEXT Magazine.

this was so beautifully staged, the mpercussion and dance and movement back and forth form past to present was seamless. If the audence had been quiet and not eating chips and leaving there phone son silent it would have been magical. there was some issue with actors being too quiet in their speaking or with too strong an accent that some story was lost ( sewing machine actress was too quiet but was comedic relief... so challenging for people far away to hear.

really wonderful piece!beautifully woven together.

You have to go see this Play ! Amazing Work Rhoma Akosua Spencer & The Cast. Danse Macabre is the winner of the 2026 Toronto Fringe New Play Contest. Written and directed by Rhoma Spencer, the play is set in a Toronto Mas Camp on the eve of Toronto Caribbean Carnival. The story follows Cisco, a queer Black Trini-Canadian Mas designer creating an elaborate King costume that celebrates African history and ancestry. Conflict erupts when a white performer connected to the band's financial backers insists on wearing the costume, leading to questions of cultural ownership, identity, race, and the meaning of "playing mas." The production also incorporates memory scenes that connect present-day events with the history of the Black diaspora.

REVIEW of Danse Macabre

by Canute Lawrence

Last Friday evening, I journeyed to Tarragon Theatre to see the premiere performance of Danse Macabre, written and directed by Trinibagonian-Canadian playwright and director, Rhoma Akosua Spencer. Last December, Spencer's Danse Macabre was the winner of the Toronto Fringe Festival 2026 New Play Contest, securing a free performance slot at this year's city-wide festival showcasing local, national, and international artistes.

Set in a mas camp warehouse, Danse Macabre tells the story of the origin, history, and motivation behind the elaborate and colorful costumes of beads and feathers that we associate with the annual Toronto Caribbean Carnival celebrations.

I was particularly intrigued by the masterful way in which Spencer threads the story of Cisco (Uche Ama) experiencing a crisis in trying to create a winning mas camp costume, but tempers flare in the warehouse among the other characters who have other perspectives while Cisco digs deep to find inspiration. Through the injection of magical ✨️ realism, Cisco's imagination takes form and frames the story in the warehouse against major historical events that saw Black lives having to fight and dance their way (literally and metaphorically) into who they are today. These struggles are evidenced in "the radical uprising of the Haitian Revolution, to the fire and defiance of the Canboulay Riots," Spencer asserts in the Danse Macabre program.

Carnival is not just a celebration. It is a mirror of what was and is. It is a weapon of resistance, power and identity. And, the audience was spellbound in the truth-telling, as raw and painful to many as it was as we all sat in the mas camp warehouse.

The technical aspects of the show (sound and lighting) were simple and effective. The most appealing, for me, was the use of, and lighting of the scrim adding to the magical appeal linking the present with the past. The drumming was like a vehicle that transported the audience from the warehouse back to Africa, to the belly of the slave ships, to the anti-slave revolutions, and back to the Present.

A significant take-away for me is: Black lives must continue to tell their stories and celebrate their joy amidst their struggles. The dance is not over! Danse Macabre continues its run at Tarragon Theatre until July 12, 2026. Please go see it.

Congrats to all involved! A fantastic production. Extremely poignant and thought provoking for so many specific groups of people: Black folx, Caribbean people, Caribbean-Canadians, White people in general but particularly White Caribbean people, Queer people and more, and the themes are accessible to everyone, even those not connected to these specific identities. So many important themes covered in 90 minutes. I particularly loved the older seamstress and the wire bender, but all of the characters were excellent! I would definitely recommend!

I was looking forward to this but as someone with a slight hearing issue, I found it extremely difficult to hear some of the actors. They failed to project so the storyline and humour was lost. The acting was quite uneven and some actors seems really into themselves rather than an ensemble. I have been to the venue before with no issues in hearing actors so I think this had to do more with not coaching the actors to project better.

This work explores culture, queer identity, resistance and the lineages of anti-Black racism throughout history, embedded in the contemporary realities of “playing mas” at Toronto Carnival. The ensemble’s performances, scenic design and live instrumentation, all 10 out of 10. Rhoma Spencer is a legend in Toronto theatre and with other established Toronto theatre artists reaching a creative ceiling in 2026, Spencer has only further developed her artistic practice with an incredible new work that is inherently intergenerational and generative of the conversations in this moment.