Soul, jazz, and gospel music are hitting the stage at Darke Hall in Regina until Sunday, highlighting the musical story of a Canadian civil rights trailblazer.
‘Hey Viola’ is a musical exploration of the life of Viola Desmond, the woman featured on our Canadian $10 bill. In late 2016, the Bank of Canada announced that Desmond would be the first Canadian woman to be featured on a banknote, which was released in 2018.
In 1946, the Black woman made history for refusing to leave the ‘whites only’ area of the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, but there is so much more to her life than that pivotal incident.
Desmond was a businesswoman, as well as a civil and women’s rights activist. She was designated a national historic person in 2017.
Krystle Dos Santos plays the lead role and has three musicians backing her up. Dos Santos hopes people will come and enjoy an evening of great music, and also learn a human story of Canadian Black history.
“I think people don’t really realize that we had these kinds of issues or segregation all the way back then. I think they thought it was an American problem, and that Canadians were always very nice and police, and as much as we are and we were, we still have a lot of issues,” she said.
’Hey Viola! Viola Desmond; the Soundrack of a Life' has four more performances at Darke Hall until Sunday afternoon. The first performance was held on Thursday night. Tickets can be purchased on Darke Hall's website.
- With files from CTV News Regina's Gareth Dillistone
