Trey Anthony

{{Infobox writer

| name = Trey Anthony

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1974|02|18}}

| birth_place = London, England

| occupation = Playwright, actor, producer

| genre = Comedy

| notableworks = Da Kink in My Hair

| awards = NAACP Theatre Award (2007), Gemini Award (2008)

| website = [http://www.treyanthony.com Trey Anthony]

}}

Trey Anthony (born February 18, 1974) is a British-born Canadian playwright, actor, and producer, best known for her award-winning play and television series Da Kink in My Hair.{{cite web|last1=Swartz|first1=Shauna|title=Trey Anthony Brings Black Women Onstage - AfterEllen|url=http://www.afterellen.com/tv/7602-trey-anthony-brings-black-women-onstage|website=AfterEllen|accessdate=4 March 2018|date=28 March 2007}} As a producer, she worked for the Women's Television Network and the Urban Women's Comedy Festival.{{Cite web|url=http://www.treyanthonystudios.com/bio.html|title=Trey Anthony Studios|website=www.treyanthonystudios.com|access-date=2018-05-17}} She founded Trey Anthony Studios, a television and theatre production company dedicated to producing new works of theatre.{{Cite web|url=http://www.treyanthonystudios.com|title=Trey Anthony Studios|website=www.treyanthonystudios.com|access-date=2018-05-17}}

Personal life

Born in London, England to Jamaican parents, Anthony arrived in Canada at 12 years old with her mother. They lived in the working class district of Rexdale in Toronto 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.{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/how-black-mothers-say-i-love-you-1.4571336|title=The story that inspired 'How Black Mothers Say I Love You' {{!}} CBC News|work=CBC|access-date=2018-05-17|language=en-US}} 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.{{Citation|title=The story that inspired 'How Black Mothers Say I Love You'|url=https://soundcloud.com/cbcottawa1/the-story-that-inspired-how-black-mothers-say-i-love-you|language=en|accessdate=2018-05-17}}

She has a brother, Darren Anthony, who is also a writer.

Career

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.{{cite news|last1=DeMara|first1=Bruce|title=When doors closed, she hired herself|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/282216|accessdate=4 March 2018|work=The Toronto Star|date=4 December 2007|language=en-CA}} 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.

She has performed at The Second City, the Urban Womyn's Comedy Festival and Toronto's St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts. She was also a writer and performer for Kenny Robinson's sketch comedy show After Hours with Kenny Robinson and a writer for The Chris Rock Show.

In 2017, her play How Black Mothers Say I Love You debuted at the Factory Theatre, Toronto.{{cite news|url=http://www.bramptonguardian.com/whatson-story/7165280--da-kink-in-my-hair-playwright-trey-anthony-explores-family-relationships-in-new-play-how-black-mo|title='da Kink in my Hair' playwright Trey Anthony explores family relationships in new play 'How Black Mothers Say I Love You'|last1=Clay|first1=Chris|date=1 March 2017|work=BramptonGuardian.com|accessdate=4 March 2018|language=en-CA}}

In 2020, Anthony appeared in CBC Gem's Queer Pride Inside special.Peter Knegt, [https://www.cbc.ca/arts/this-pride-come-inside-for-a-digital-queer-cabaret-unlike-anything-else-1.5617476 "This Pride, come inside for a digital queer cabaret unlike anything else"]. CBC Arts, June 22, 2020.

= 'Da Kink in My Hair =

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.{{Citation|last=National Arts Centre|title=Trey Anthony - 'da Kink in my Hair|date=2016-10-18|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpglUyCZvKA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/IpglUyCZvKA |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|accessdate=2018-05-17}}{{cbignore}}

Starting out at the Toronto French Festival in 2001 '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.

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.{{Cn|date=January 2025}}

= Trey Anthony Studios =

Trey Anthony Studios was founded by Anthony with the mission to "produce television and theater for urban audiences." 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.{{Cite web|url=https://passemuraille.ca/archives/current-season/secrets-of-a-black-boy|title=Secrets of a Black Boy {{!}} Theatre Passe Muraille|website=passemuraille.ca|language=en-CA|access-date=2018-06-16|archive-date=2018-06-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616103232/https://passemuraille.ca/archives/current-season/secrets-of-a-black-boy|url-status=dead}}