IN THE DIVING BELL Comes to Toronto Fringe Festival 2025

In this speculative tale, a Black clown finds herself on a Middle Passage journey of survival and repair. An unlikely deep sea diver, she becomes immersed in a salvage operation to recover what was lost. Drawing on African and Caribbean history and memory, this solo performance is a mash up of mime, movement, mask, and installation.

The premiere of IN THE DIVING BELL takes place at A Space Gallery. This interdisciplinary work, developed through a combination of theoretical research, movement improvisation, and visual art production, is set in an unconventional venue. Featured in an intimate space for an audience of 60, the performance occurs in the north gallery, with a large-scale artwork on exhibit in the adjacent south gallery.

Creator, performer, and visual artist, Mosa McNeilly, an 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women honouree, brings together a dynamic team of collaborators: Directorial Consultant, Diane Roberts, founding member of Obsidian Theatre, and founder and Artistic Director of the Arrivals Legacy Project; Dramaturg, Honor Ford-Smith, recipient of the Honorary Associateship Award in recognition of contributions to Theatre and Performing Arts in Canada; Choreographic Consultant, Jaz 'Fairy J' Simone, Co-Choreographer for “For Coloured Girls” under the direction of Djanet Sears, and Choreographer for “Death and the King's Horseman” under the direction of Tawiah BenEben Mfoafo-M'Carthy; Movement and Cultural Consultant, Emilie Zila Jabouin, performer in video installation, "Nave," by Camille Turner, winner of the Toronto Biennale Artist Award; Visual Art Consultant, Charmaine Lurch, creator of sculpture entitled "A Mobile and Visible Carriage", acquired by Art Windsor Essex, and deemed an invaluable Canadian work by the Canadian Cultural Property Review Board; and Stage Manager and Lighting and Sound Designer, c. m. pink, recipient of the David Barker Maltby Photography award.