Red Betty Theatre dedicated to showcasing diverse stories
Radha Menon is telling racialized women’s stories in Hamilton
Hamilton’s Red Betty Theatre is about to celebrate 10 years of offering thoughtful theatre experiences to savvy audiences.
It has held fast to its mandate to present stories from Black, Indigenous and racialized women to an audience open to new and exciting experiences.
“It’s about increasing access to such performances while all the while contributing to the richness and diversity of Canadian theatre. It does this through bold and relevant artistic choices,” says Radha Menon, the company’s founder, artistic director and cultural guru.
Menon has an interesting background acting, directing and writing bold new plays.
“I stumbled into theatre, literally,” says Menon. “I was a shy, eightyear-old in a new school, in Cardiff, Wales. My task was to move a chair from backstage to centre stage. I got stuck in a narrow doorway. My 30second struggle for freedom tickled the audience pink. They applauded my antics and I was hooked. They couldn’t get me offstage after that.”
Menon went to high school in India, where she won the Rotary
Club’s All India School Playwriting award at age 14. And she’s been winning awards for her plays ever since.
Menon worked in theatre in the U.K. through her mid-20s. When she came to Saskatchewan to marry in 1995, she found she couldn’t get hired in theatres there.
“This spurred me on to write,” she says. “When faced with more of the same as a writer, my choice was to start Red Betty Theatre, or to give up my art, which would amount to slashing my veins.’’
Menon wanted to contribute to Canadian theatre through relevant artistic voices. She envisioned an inclusive platform.
Moving to Hamilton in 2008, she ultimately formed Red Betty Theatre.
“We’re a not-for-profit organization. Our vision is to develop and produce work reflecting the diversity of Canadian culture through a Canadian lens.
We believe in theatre that considers difficult international and cultural issues. By providing space through our productions we offer artists and communities a safe space to share stories.”
None of this has been easy. Some doors have been closed. Support has not always been available.
Menon’s most acclaimed play, “Rukmini’s Gold,” was developed with support of the Ontario Arts Council and was dramaturgically supported over a two-year period by Kali Theatre in London, U.K. The play, about how British colonialism and ancient patriarchy impact Indian women was a runaway success at the Hamilton Fringe Festival in 2015, winning that year’s Toronto Fringe New Play Contest, as well as the Hamilton Fringe Critics Choice Award. In 2020, the play won the Sanhita Manch Playwriting Contest in India, as well as the Tata Literature Live! festival. “Yet the play hasn’t been presented in Canada, apart from its initial Fringe productions,” Menon says.
In 2021, Red Betty Theatre will present Menon’s play “Blackberry” in Ottawa and Hamilton, in association with The Great Canadian Theatre Company.
“Ít’s a tender, compelling, coming of age story, based on my growing up in Birmingham, U.K.” she says.
Menon’s relationship with international theatre companies grew from a need to work with professionals who could help develop her plays and ultimately her voice. “I received funding to write plays through many grants allocated by Ontario theatre companies, but it takes more than words on a page to develop plays. Plays need readings in front of an audience, with actors, directors and ideally a strong dramaturge. This all costs money.”
Menon believes “many theatre spaces are not welcoming to people who are not white, or middle class. This must change,” she says. “Theatre should be accessible to all.”
A firm believer in decolonizing theatre Menon says this means, “expressing culturally specific ideas with bodies occupying space in celebration of unique identities.”
“Rise of the Prickly Pear,” Menon’s play about a family rift during the Cuban revolution, is a case in point. It was performed at The Staircase and Artword Artbar Theatres in Hamilton in 2014, selling out every performance. It was then developed further in 2017 at St. Petersburg, Florida’s American Stage. But Menon has no funding, or presentation partners, to remount the play here in Hamilton.
So, why does she not move to a larger theatre centre, such as Toronto or Calgary?
“I love Hamilton,” she says. “My 12 years here have been productive. And I have faith Red Betty will soon have presenting partners in Hamilton.”
In the year ahead, Menon will have a season predicated solely on the development of new plays supporting female writers with diverse backgrounds in Ontario. The company’ s planned Decolonize Your Ears New Play Festival promises a reverberating message, Red Betty Theatre and Radha Menon are here to stay. Get used to it.
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