Who are we?
The Walking Griot is a collective dedicated to the facilitation and production of art and programs about Afro-Caribbean culture geared towards young Black audiences and communities.
The collective was created to fill a gap we saw existing within the Toronto theatre community. This is space for Black children to engage with stories that are rooted in their cultural mythology, Caribbean knowledge systems, and embodied experiences.
The stories we create are interwoven with cultural and traditional elements and invite audiences into African and Caribbean culture, while creating art that (re)connects and educates and keeping culture and traditional storytelling art forms alive. It’s our vision for children and youth to participate, not just as audience members, but be their own creators and storytellers. .
Leilani Ragobeer & Najla Nubyanluv in ‘LULU’. Photo by Selina McCallum
Our Team
Sashoya Simpson
Founder, Program FacilitatorSashoya Simpson is an Afro-Jamaican multidisciplinary creative spanning producing, creative writing, and oral storytelling, alongside being a cultural leader and theatre interventionist whose work reimagines Caribbean ancestral narratives within a contemporary framework. Her stage play, LULU, won the Patron’s Pick Award at the Toronto Fringe Festival (2025), and her debut children’s picture book, The Instrument Maker, is forthcoming in 2027 (Annick Press). In addition, her screenwriting debut short film, A Quiet Morning, was recently released in 2026 (OYA Black Arts). She’s currently the Associate Artistic Director of the Watah Theatre and Black Theatre School and is the recipient of the Toronto Arts Foundation Che Kothari Artist and Instigator Award (2025) as well as a Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prizes Protégé (2025).
Three time graduate of The Watah Theatre & alumni of bcurrent's mandiela rAiz’n in the Sun ensemble, Najla Nubyanluv is a queer, Black mother, multi-disciplinary artist, producer, educator, and doula. During her 2017 Spolrusie Arts Fellowship at Watah, her play I Cannot Lose My Mind received Individual Creation funding from Canada Council for the Arts. After four years of study of the Anitafrika Methodology with d’bi.young anitafrika, I Cannot Lose My Mind World Premiered in The Watah Theatre Double Bill co-produced by The Watah Theatre, Crow's Theatre, and Najla Nubyanluv in February 2018. During her residency her research focused on holistic recovery of Black Women through Theatre and afrofuturism. Najla also served as the residency coordinator of the Watah Theatre. Nubyanluv is the author & illustrator of I Love Being Black, a children’s book and I Cannot Lose My Mind published by Spolrusie Press. She was featured in a number of publications including the OCHUN anthologies published by The Watah Theatre and The Peak Magazine.
Program Facilitator