BIANCA MIRANDA & KESHIA CHEESMAN
City: Calgary, AB
Instagram: @thebiancanator, @keshia_cheesman
Work: The F Word
Nothing says teamwork like a bonafide production duo. Bianca and Keshia are friends, co-creators, playwrights, and body positive advocates. With seven years in the industry, the pair met at the University of Calgary while studying theatre. Taking drama to the next level with witty relatability is the trademark of this dynamic pair. The two share a strong ethos in using art as a transformative tool to encourage, uplift, and unite, all while bringing comedic relief.
Their most highly anticipated collaboration to date is “The F Word“, an endearing production aimed at challenging some of the taboo ideas surrounding fatness. “We have been creating and dreaming up this show for five and a half years and this show is our wildest dreams coming into fruition,” they share. Playing from February 9th to 19th, 2023, the show runs for the first time at Martha Cohen Theatre in Calgary, Alberta.
Infusing their identities as a Filipino-Canadian and Caribbean-Canadian, they bring a passion for highlighting the unique experiences of women of colour to the stage. As they continue to challenge biases, Bianca and Keshia are shining a light on marginalized voices to reimagine a future together.
Born and raised in the Philippines, Bianca Miranda is the Associate Producer at Downstage ‘theatre that creates conversation’ and also the Artistic Associate at Handsome Alice, ‘theatre that uplifts women’s perspectives through creative narratives’. As a theatre-maker and playwright, her works most often start from a personal place and examine the intersections of her identities. Some of her works in development include: Kisapmata (a Filipinx queer love story) and Opo (one’s quest to find her authentic self as the mythical creature, “manananggal”). As an actor and performer, she has worked with theatre companies across the city, with favourites such as Hamlet Frequency (Shakespeare Company and One Yellow Rabbit), Little Red (Major Matt Mason and Ghost River Theatre), and Timmy, Tommy, and the Haunted Hotel (Pape & Taper).
Keshia Cheesman has worked with notable Calgary theatre companies such as The Shakespeare Company, Swallow-a-Bicycle, One Yellow Rabbit, Handsome Alice Theatre, Downstage, Alberta Theatre Projects, and Theatre Calgary. Keshia recently made her national playwriting debut with her play, “Special”, featured in Obsidian Theatre and CBC Gem’s 21 Black Futures, which won a 2022 Canadian Screen award for best web series.
More about Bianca Miranda & Keshia Cheesman
How were you first introduced to your creative discipline?
BIANCA: Singing was my first love. I was that kid singing at family parties and school assemblies, and I joined so many singing competitions. Dancing followed quickly after that. But when I was in grade 3, my life changed when I got my first role (the lead role!) in the school play, “Mayabang na Gansa” (The Arrogant Goose), after auditioning in front of 200 of my classmates and teachers. I loved everything about it – the rehearsals, the costumes, the full production. I knew I was meant to do theatre in any way possible after that.
KESHIA: As a kid, I just loved performing in any way I could. I grew up as a competitive dancer focused on tap, jazz and ballet. Then in Jr. High, I joined the drama program which compelled me to take musical theatre at my dance studio so I could do my favorite things – act and dance, all at once. And I fell in love. I was always very quiet and shy as a kid, so theatre was the one time I was able to break out of my shell without judgment and fully express who I am. In High School, I became heavily involved in the drama and musical theatre program and from there I knew I had to pursue theatre.
How has your city, region or places you were raised impacted you artistically/creatively?
BIANCA: “The stories I tell have a direct relationship to the places I am connected to. Calgary is my current home. This is where I’ve spent my formative years and where my family currently lives in. As an immigrant, I initially thought that hiding my Filipino identity and assimilating was the best way to find belonging but now, this place is also where I’ve found the confidence, strength, and pride even more than ever to be Filipino. The Philippines is also still home. I am forever longing for the sights, the smells, and the sensations of back home. This diasporic consciousness is always ever present in my voice as an artist and I always hope that my work is able to reach someone and makes them feel seen.”
KESHIA: “Growing up in the suburbs of Calgary, Alberta, I was always the only Black kid in the room. At one point I truly didn’t know any other Black people besides my family. That made me spend a lot of my youth trying to hide my Blackness and deny parts of myself in order to gain proximity to whiteness. Now that I have accepted and embraced all that I am, I’ve realized how impactful it would’ve been for me to see authentic and positive representations of Black women in the media. When I create, I always have my past self in my mind. I strive to be the representation that little me would have needed to accept herself.”
What’s something people should know about you?
“We love food! One of the first ways we connected was through sharing our cultural foods with each other. Having a meal together is a sacred part of our friendship that we bring to our working spaces and is also a big component of our show.”
