About this Event
Following the successful inaugural festival in 2025, The Billie Holiday Theatre is proud to present the second annual Caribbean Theatre Festival, Caribbean Calling: Roots & Resurgence, December 11–13, 2026.
Curated by Obie Award winner Heather Alicia Simms and Drama Desk Award nominee Patrice Johnson Chevannes, the festival shines a spotlight on plays and playwrights from across the Caribbean, celebrating the region's rich theatrical traditions while creating a platform for its emerging voices.
FULL EVENT SCHEDULE
Friday, December 11 · 6 PM — Free with RSVP | RSVP on this page
The festival opens with a full-length reading of Beneath the Land of Cockpit Country by Christin Eve Cato, the Jamaican-Puerto Rican playwright whose work was introduced through an excerpt at the inaugural festival. Centered on a family’s struggle over ancestral land in Jamaica’s Cockpit Country, the play explores the connections between environmental justice and cultural inheritance.The presentation marks the continued development of a work first shared with Caribbean Calling audiences in 2025. Directed by Karl O’Brian Williams and presented in collaboration with Braata Productions.The reading is supported through a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts.
Saturday, December 12 · 7:00pm — $20 |
An evening of staged readings and live performance brings together master and emerging Caribbean playwrights, featuring a cast of Caribbean and Caribbean-American actors.
ACT I - Roots celebrates four seminal works that have helped establish the theatrical landscape of the Caribbean and its diaspora. Playwrights to be featured include Patrick Brown (Jamaica), Aime Césaire (Martinique), Errol John (Trinidad), Carol Fonseca Galves (Belize).
ACT II - Resurgence four works by contemporary playwrights whose writing examine identity and migration, extending the conversation across generations and borders. Playwrights to be featured include Andres Santiago Pina (Dominican Republic), Eljon Wardally (Grenada), Camille Simone Thomas (Jamaica) among others.
The evening features a distinguished cast of Caribbean and Caribbean-American actors, and culminates in a panel conversation with some of the most influential voices in American theatre — exploring the Caribbean's contributions to global Black storytelling, the legacy of Caribbean theatre, and the opportunities and challenges facing Caribbean artists today.
Sunday, December 13 · 5:00pm — $60 |
The festival concludes with a special day celebrating Dr. The Honorable Oliver Samuels, OD, CD, the legendary Jamaican actor and comedian whose extraordinary career has made him one of the most beloved figures in Caribbean entertainment. The day features film, conversation, performance, and a special tribute honoring Samuels and his enduring contribution to Caribbean theatre and popular culture.
"The Billie Holiday Theatre has always been a stage where the multiplicity of the Black experience takes center stage. 'Caribbean Calling' embodies our ongoing commitment to expand the Black narrative — to honor the stories of the Diaspora that have shaped our collective identity and continue to move culture forward. Brooklyn is home to one of the largest Caribbean communities in the world, and this festival reflects our deep connection to that heritage. It's an invitation for the community to see themselves, their ancestors, and their possibilities reflected on this stage."
Event venue & nearby stays
The Billie Holiday Theatre, 1368 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, United States
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