Trey Anthony (born 1983) is a British-born Canadian playwright, actor, and producer, best known for her award-winning play and television series Da Kink in My Hair.[1] As a producer, she worked for the Women's Television Network and the Urban Women's Comedy Festival.[2] She founded Trey Anthony Studios, a television and theatre production company dedicated to producing new works of theatre.[3]
Born in London, EnglandtoJamaican parents, Anthony arrived in Canada at 12 years old with her mother. They lived in the working class district of RexdaleinToronto before moving to suburban Brampton. Before leaving for Canada, Anthony's mother had left ahead, leaving her from the ages of 6 to 12 to be raised by her grandmother.
Anthony's grandmother had in turn left her mother in Jamaica when leaving for the UK.[4] Anthony's grandmother had been part of the Domestic Scheme Act, allowing her to go to a first world country if she proved she had no family ties.[5]
She has a brother, Darren Anthony, who is also a writer.[2]
She is a regular on the Canadian comedy circuit. She began doing stand-up comedy during African Nubian Comedy Nights where she honed her comedic wit and timing.[7] She soon became a crowd favourite and began writing and producing her own sketch comedy shows at Second City. These shows sold out monthly and Anthony moved her monthly shows to a bigger venue, growing her audience, and creating more demand for her theatrical work and projects.
She is a recipient of the prestigious Harry Jerome Award for the arts and the recipient of an Eve Ensler Award of the Arts.
In 2017, Anthony launched her new brand, Black Girl in Love, which features the first lifestyle planner/organizer geared at professional black woman and also includes merchandise, workshops and retreats.
In 2017, her play How Black Mothers Say I Love You debuted at the Factory Theatre, Toronto.[8] She is currently working on turning How Black Mothers say I Love You into a feature film.
Her hit play and television series, 'Da Kink in My Hair, has received tremendous critical acclaim, and was named one of the top ten plays in Canadian theatrical history and the winner of four NAACP and received several Dora Mavor Moore Awards. Originally set as a one-woman show, 'Da Kink documents the lives of women in a Caribbean style Jamaican hair salon in Toronto.[10]
Starting out at the Toronto French Festival in 2001[10]'Da Kink has been produced in California, New York, London, and was the first Canadian play to be produced at the Princess of Wales Theatre.[2]
Anthony is the first Black Canadian woman to write and produce a television show on a major prime time Canadian network. A television series version of 'Da Kink in My Hair began airing in 2007 and Anthony was a cast member before the show was cancelled in 2009.
'Da Kink in my Hair is currently touring again in Canada.
Trey Anthony Studios was founded by Anthony with the mission to "produce television and theater for urban audiences."[2] It has produced and continuous to produce Anthony's works and has also produced Secrets of a Black Boy, a play written by her brother Darren.[11]
