Meghan Swaby

Meghan Swaby is an actor and playwright of Jamaican descent born and raised in Toronto.

She was recently commissioned by Myseum of Toronto to create a short play called DeRailed: The History of Railway Porters in Canada based on Cecil Fosters book They Call Me George.

Her play Venus’ Daughter inspired by the life of Saartjie (Sarah Baartman) aka The Hottentot Venus was produced by Obsidian Theatre in 2016 and directed by Philip Akin. Venus’ Daughter was included on The SureFire List (Playwrights Guild of Canada) as one of the top 23 recommended plays in Canada.

Some acting credits include: Controlled Damage (Neptune Theatre/ b current), Calpurnia (Nightwood/Sulong Theatre), Venus’ Daughter (Obsidian Theatre), In This World (Roseneath Theatre), All Our Happy Days Are Stupid (Harbourfront Theatre/ The Kitchen – NYC), Bullet For Adolf (Hart House) and wise woman (b current).

She has participated in various playwrighting programs over the years, such as; Nightwood Theatre’s Write from the Hip, Diaspora Dialogues Playwright Residency, The Stratford Festivals’ Playwrights Retreat and Playwrights Workshop Montreal/CEAD Gros Morne Residency.

In 2017, Meghan was one of 50 playwrights selected to have her work included in the inaugural 50in50: Writing Black Women Into Existence, (curated by Dominique Morisseau) at the Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn.

Meghan is a Playwrights 2015 mentee and worked with Mel Hague.