Back to Directors Lab 2026

Anansi V. God(s)

The gods need new stories and a certain spider is chosen to collect the best ones from humanity. But when a student’s diary journal is published online, man and myth must team up to regain control of their character and balance the scales. Inspired by West-African folklore and stories of the Bible, ANANSI v. GOD(s) is a 3-part parable that reminds humans and gods alike how to stay true to yourself, stay true to your story, and prepare for the end of the world.

Presented with support from Buddies in Bad Times and Cahoots Theatre

Anansi was first developed with Cahoots Theatre (2022), followed by TACTICS (2023), Black Theatre Workshop, Tarragon Theatre, Toronto Metropolitan University (2024), Outside the March (2025), and now, the Paprika Festival (2026). Its creation was funded by the Ontario Arts Council’s Recommender Grants for Theatre Creators (2023).

This excerpt is being produced with permission of the playwright.

CONTENT AND SENSORY ADVISORIES: Coarse language, suicidal ideation, two instances of intensely bright light

ALL PERFORMANCES ARE MASK MANDATORY

RUN TIME:
90 minute Double-Bill, 15 minute intermission between pieces (paired The Walls Enclosing)

Cast and Crew

  • Playwright: Paul Smith
  • Director: Nicci Pryce
  • Projection Designer & Cultural Consultant: Kobena Ampofo
  • Stage Manager: Yabsira Malyon
  • Sound Designer: Stephon Smith 
  • Set Designer: Jared Ireland
  • Performer (Jack): Carvela Lee (she/they)
  • Performer (Anansi): KayGeni (KayGeni) 
  • Performer (Nyame & Unknown): Kabrena Robinson (she/her)
  • Performer (Omar & God’s Advocate): Shelby Mwmabu (they/them)

Schedule

Part of the 2026 Festival

A note from the Playwright: 

While ANANSI v. GOD(S) started as a solo performance for a digital medium before becoming something more, it has always been an epic biomyth grounded in a traditional teaching from Ghana called Sankofa (which asks us to willingly return to our origins and find what is needed to move forward). Its writing began at 3:38am on July 14th, 2021, when I woke up from a bad dream about Love Simon. At the beginning of the 2018 film, Simon says “I’m just like you”. For many reasons, Simon is not just like me, and that difference in our stories was keeping me up at night. I don’t expect any of this play’s characters or their stories to be just like you and yours (as this is not a self-insert), but I do hope it serves as something that somehow, somewhere, you can see yourself in. If you’re watching or listening to this iteration of what my friends and I call AvG, you’re only getting a third of the story. The full 90min play has literal and metaphorical worlds that Nansi leads us through: a publicized court case, a social media account, an ensemble of characters, a battle, and, of course, an ending. For now, here’s an excerpt carefully curated by Nicci Pryce and their team at a Paprika Festival, which I hope you enjoy.

LOCATION

Native Earth Performing Art’s Aki Studio

250-585 Dundas Street East
Toronto, ON M5A 2B7
https://www.nativeearth.ca/akistudio/

Accessibility

Native Earth Performing Arts and Artscape strive to provide equal treatment to and equitable benefits of its services, programs and facilities in a manner that respects the dignity and independence of people with disabilities.

  • The Dundas Street entrance provides barrier-free access to the building
  • Two elevators are located in the South Lobby
  • All floors have accessible washrooms and stalls, as well as accessible drinking fountains
  • Signage throughout the building is written in Braille
  • A hearing enhancement system is available in Aki Studio and the Ada Slaight Hall

NATIVE EARTH PERFORMING ART’S COVID HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY

BOOK YOUR TICKETS

BOOK YOUR TICKETS HERE

Paprika 2026 Artist Participants

Nicci Pryce

Director

Nicci Pryce (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work is rooted in passion, vulnerability, and social justice. With a BA in Media Production from TMU, they contributed to creating a wide array of projects ranging from mixtapes, theatrical productions, and short films each with a definitive focus on amplifying underrepresented narratives. Their artistic journey has been shaped by collaboration with companies such as Theatre Gargantua, Bad Hats, Crane Creations, Soulpepper, New Harlem Productions, and Paprika Festival.

Kobena Ampofo

Projection Designer & Cultural Consultant

Kobena Ampofo (we / they) is a queer Akan anti-disciplinary artist developing a curiosity-led research practice around witchcraft, Akan mediumship, and the spirit realm. Kobena was born on a dark Tuesday morning in Kumasi and has since also lived in Accra, South Bend, Chicago, Brampton, and now Toronto. Our practice is guided by exploring how to conjure new realities into being, and finding new ways to communicate beyond (human) language.

Our first showing was with Goldhost’s “”In the Flesh”” online exhibition in 2020 where we debuted the Shadowmancer series. Since then, our research and exploration of various crafts, practices and histories have informed our artistic practice in a quest to encounter and commune with spirits within and beyond our body. Our experience of collecting stories on the history of the Ghanaian coast during a residency with Saman Archive, especially oral and spiritual histories from elders and townspeople was incredibly eye-opening and a major inspiration in developing the “Notes on Making Jollof” digital collage series, which was exhibited at the 2024 Toronto Outdoor Art Fair. We were also part of the 519’s group exhibition “”In What We Carry, We Become”” for the “”In Each Other’s Magnitude”” project held at the Wildseed Center for Art & Activism as well as the 2024/25 Cohort of the VUKA Performing Arts Residency at Theatre Passe Muraille where we debuted the solo performance piece, “”Bonsam Din””. We are currently working on projections for Anansi v God(s) as part of the Paprika 2025 Design Lab and building a virtual garden with the InterAccess Terra Firma residency program. In the future, we hope to better archive our artworks under our Nipazeen platform to make our processes more available to the similarly curious.