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Hamilton’s newest theatre festival spotlights the city’s IBPOC artists

If you want to catch new works of homegrown theatre and performance by some of Hamilton’s most exciting artists, a new festival in town might be right up your alley.

Hamilton’s own Red Betty Theatre has launched the inaugural Decolonise Your Ears Festival: a digital event that showcases brand new plays by local writers and artists who are Indigenous, Black, and people of colour (IBPOC).

Red Betty Theatre, headed by artistic director and founder Radha S. Menon, has been a Hamilton staple for over a decade as one of the only local theatre companies dedicated to sharing the stories of IBPOC communities.

The first-ever Decolonise Your Ears Festival, which begins this evening and runs to June 26th, is a unique festival in Hamilton with its focus on presenting brand new works of locally-created theatre that tell stories that go beyond the traditionally white-centric, Western canon.

“Decolonising theatre doesn’t mean tossing out the likes of Tennessee Williams, Joe Orton or the Bard.  It means brown and black bodies having space and time to explore our voices, develop our practices and explore lesser-known cultural forms without having to negotiate, conform or squeeze into the parameters of Western aesthetics,” reads a message on Red Betty Theatre’s website.

The playwrights for the festival were selected by jury via an open call, and received professional support to develop their scripts in preparation for public presentation in a virtual format.

The festival kicks off at 7 pm this evening – June 24th – with a reading of Unwanted by Melissa Murray-Mutch. Then, on Friday, June 25th at 7 pm, there will be a reading of How Much For Tranquiity? by Joanne Roberts.

Closing out the first-ever festival is a new work by Red Betty artistic director Radha S. Menon with the debut of her semi-autobiographical play The Sheep on Saturday, June 26th at 7 pm.

To read more about the inaugural Decolonise Your Ears Festival and get tickets to the events, check out the Red Betty Theatre website.

Lead image courtesy of @redbettytheatre

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