Red Betty Theatre – Blackberry
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- https://www.redbettytheatre.org/blackberry-at-what-the-fest
Red Betty Theatre in partnership with Hamilton Fringe are thrilled to announce the world premiere of Blackberry by award-winning playwright Radha S. Menon, running June 04 – June 12, 2021 in Hamilton’s Carter Park. Also directed by Menon, the full-length world premiere of Blackberry will launch Red Betty Theatre’s 10th year of producing fiercely independent programming in Hamilton.
BLACKBERRY
by Radha S. Menon
June 04-13, 2021
Carter Park (near Stinson & Wellington)
Preview: June 03 // 7:30 PM
Opening Night: June 04 // 7:30 PM
June 05 // 7:30 PM
June 08, 09 // 12:00 PM, 7:30 PM
June 10,11,12 // 7:30 PM
June 13//12:00PM
Preview – $20 // Regular – $25
Under 30 / Senior / Arts Worker – $15
Limited PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN tickets available for all shows
Tickets Available April 19th, 2021
In a remote stretch along an urban lakeside, Fiona, Mo and Salim find peace and a place where they can simply be themselves – until the discovery of a murdered girl’s body destroys their collective fantasy. Blackberry examines the lingering stain of colonialism from the perspective of three IBPOC youth. A timely response to the social justice movements of 2020, Blackberry is a relevant, mysterious, and hopeful piece of theatre that offers a powerful take on the ‘Defund the Police’ movement.
The coming-of-age story is loosely based on Menon’s lived experience as a teenager in 1980s Birmingham, UK, roaming the overgrown and unloved canals of the city with her friends. The population of predominantly Black and Pakistani people lived in under-resourced neighbourhoods, forced out of ‘nice’ neighbourhoods by a wave of gentrification. These were troubling times, when many ‘Black’ British youth were disenfranchised with little access to resources or education, while also being a target for racists and white nationalists. Radha’s personal experience facing racist verbal and physical assaults left her with feelings of rage, terror, and self-doubt. Those feelings were compounded by continual police harassment and the social, economic and political exclusion that British-born outsiders faced. It also fundamentally shaped her path as a theatre creator, and continues to fuel her passion for challenging the dominant paradigms of Canadian theatre production.
“Many theatre spaces are not welcoming to people who are not white, or middle class. This must change. Theatre should be accessible to all.”
This production of Blackberry is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, City of Hamilton Enrichment Fund, The Garden Project, and Hamilton Fringe. Blackberry was developed with support from Factory Theatre, Obsidian Theatre, Nightwood Theatre, MT Space, Young People’s Theatre, and McMaster University’s Socrates SHIFT Festival.