The story of Civil Rights icon Viola Desmond

Directed by Cherissa Richards.
Co-Presented by Neptune Theatre and the National Arts Centre

Viola Desmond was a Woman Ahead of Her Time

“What happened in New Glasgow was thrust upon her, whereas I think she took her personal stand for social justice long before that night in the Roseland Theatre. She took her stand when she became a trained beautician and brought skilled methods for offering beauty and pride to Black people in Halifax, a city where a Black woman could not get her hair cut in a white owned beauty parlour. Hers was a radical stand when she went on to train young Black women in first class techniques for Black hair and complexions, sending them out like hopeful seeds of change, to continue to serve Black women in other parts of Canada, in places where otherwise Black women had no hope of receiving the beauty care and pride that came from looking their best.”
-Pearleen Oliver, Canada’s Crusader for Civil Rights

Content Advisory: As a reimagining of the life of an important civil rights icon in Canada, this play confronts difficult yet necessary truths about racism and discrimination that have been a part of our shared history. Due to the realities of this historical context, the play does not censor offensive, demeaning, and racist language, including the n-word and other racial slurs. Sexual content is also briefly discussed onstage.
In this new production of Controlled Damage, Director Cherissa Richards highlights Viola Desmond’s legacy as a trailblazing Black businesswoman and community leader, and how her courage to fight racial segregation came at a deeply personal cost. Controlled Damage is a portrait of a tenacious and fearless woman who has become an inspirational role model for generations to come.

On November 8, 1946, Halifax business owner, Viola Desmond went to a movie at the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Unaware that she was sold a lower-priced ticket for the balcony, where Black patrons were expected to sit, Viola took a seat on the main floor: the whites-only section. Although she offered to pay the one cent tax difference, Viola was dragged from the theatre, jailed, and charged. Her story would impact history forever. In Controlled Damage, award-winning playwright Andrea Scott illuminates the true story of Canadian Civil Rights icon, Viola Desmond – a woman who took a stand against racial discrimination, by taking a seat at a theatre.