Tarrus Riley’s hit single, “She’s Royal,” is an appropriate song to describe the action and mannerism of lead actress Gloria Surage in Yvette Martin’s play “Queen For A Day.”

“And when they ask what a good woman’s made of, She’s not afraid and ashamed of who she is,” Riley sings in the popular reggae number. He adds, “She's A Queen, So Supreme.”

 “Queen For A Day” is scheduled for a six-night run, starting April 25 at Brookview Middle School, 4505 Jane St., in North York. And continues at Northview Heights Secondary. School. 550 Finch Ave. West, also in North York.

In this family-oriented drama, housewife Shirley Mackenzie (portrayed by Surage), mother of three children, is married to Raymond Mackenzie (played by p! Barrington), a travelling salesman. In addition to household chores and taking care of her family, Shirley still finds time to help her kleptomaniac neighbourhood friend, single mother Althea Johnson, played by Yvette Martin.

Sometimes described “as a woman with a passion for acting and the theatre,” Gloria Surage is an actor, producer and director. She believes in herself and her community, hence her determination to run the play in the stigmatised Jane-Finch area.

“Nothing is happening in the area for the youth and adults,” said Surage who expressed the belief that the lack or absence of cultural outlets in the area could be one of the reasons why Jane-Finch is labelled as a crime-ridden community.

“I don’t have much, however, I think I can get some youth interested in the theatre if I keep running plays in the area,” said Surage who some people believe is one of a handful of women producers doing live theatre in Canada.

Born in a small village in St. Ann, Jamaica, Surage is the eldest of ten siblings. She remembers a home bustling with activity and she was often the organizer, director and head of her family. As a child she dreamed of becoming a police officer, but became a teacher instead.

She moved to Canada, and after living in Montreal and Calgary she and her husband moved to Toronto where the acting bug bit her.
 

Among her many roles in movies and commercials, Surage has worked with several major motion picture stars such as, James Garner in “Dead Silence,” David Carradine in “Kung Fu – The Legend Continues,” Martin Sheen and Helen Shaver in “The Believers,” and she once did a stand-in for singer/actress Diane Carroll in “Goat Christmas,” a movie made for American Pay-TV.

Presented by A Walk For Christ Productions, “Queen For A Day” runs April 25 to 27 at Brookview Middle School, 4505 Jane St., and continues May 2 to 4 at Northview Heights Secondary School, 550 Finch Ave. West. Show times: Fridays and Saturdays  8 p.m. Sundays  6 p.m.

Tickets: Brookview Middle School, Children $10. Adults $20 in advance, and $25 at the door. (Part proceed goes toward the Brookview Auditorium Improvement Project.)
Tickets: Northview Heights S. School, Children $10. Adults $25 in advance, and $30 at the door.

For more info: Please call Gloria at 416-843-1170 or Email  twofriendsproductions@rogers.com Link www.Jamaicatastybakes.bc.ca