By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca

It started with history:  the story of Black civil rights in Alberta, and leading players in a real-life narrative of which Albertans are woefully ignorant. And from that writer/historian Bashir Mohamed has opened a door into the world of theatre.

But Black Alberta, premiering at Nextfest, isn’t a history, as the writer explains on the phone from Vancouver, where’s he’s based these days. “People don’t have to do their homework to watch the show!”

It’s sci-fi,” says this relative newcomer to theatre of his new two-hander. “Space is actually the setting for most of the scenes.” In Black Alberta, we meet a young Black kid in Alberta, who journeys through space and time with the helpful alien Cosmo, of Galaxy fame. “A child’s imagination” is the starting point, says Mohamed. “And the reason the play kicks off is that they learn a bit about Black history in Alberta and they want to learn more…. Cosmo is the tour guide.” And in the course of their cosmic adventures, they swap roles.

Yes, you do learn of activists like railway porter Charles Daniels and Lulu Anderson, teacher Ruhamah Utendale, and Ted King, who have striking roles in Alberta’s Black history. Their stories are dramatic, to say the least, and the history is real. When the kid and Cosmo encounter ‘officials’, “all the words they’re saying are taken from actual speeches,” says Mohamed, with the exception of the Ku Klux Klan scenes. But the real heart of the play is “what these stories mean for a young Black kid in Alberta … a legacy that persists.”

That kid, says Mohamed, is a version of him, inspired by his own childhood, growing up in social housing in north end Edmonton. “For me, space and stars were an escape,” he says of a passion for astronomy and star-gazing that continues to this day.

Black Alberta isn’t Mohamed’s first play. That debut, Balance Board, was at the Fringe in 2019. The instigator was David Cheoros, a former Fringe director, who encouraged him to venture into theatre by turning an article he’d written into a play. “It was smaller; this feels more real,” Mohamed says, a smile in his voice.

Mohamed, who’s written extensively about Black history in Alberta for such projects as the CBC’s Black on the Prairies collection, is intrigued by the possibilities of theatre. Intrigued enough to consider writing about his experiences in the navy (“military service is a surreal experience, all interesting,” he says).

Toluwalase Ayo-Farinloye

Paul-Ford Manguelle

Meanwhile, with Black History at Nextfest, “it’ll be interesting to see how it’s received,” he says. ‘I’ve been definitely hands off…. You do your bit and trust people to run with it.

Angie’s production stars Paul-Ford Manguelle and Toluwalase Ayo-Farinloye. It has a performance Thursday at 9 p.m., on the Roxy mainstage. Tickets and further information: nextfest.ca.