The Hanging: A performance by Red Betty Theatre and Hamilton Aerial Group

The Hanging
A performance by Red Betty Theatre and Hamilton Aerial Group

Friday, April 12, 2019 during art crawl
4 Performances between 7:30 - 10:00 PM

Urban low-income communities are being usurped and oppressed, we, the people, being readied for serfdom by the corporations- our new imperial masters.

Red Betty Theatre presents The Hanging, an immersive and interactive short spectacle based on verbatim text collected from Hamilton Rent Strike interviews and recordings at Landlord Tenant Board hearings in Hamilton, riddled with flights of fancy by playwright Radha Menon. Directed by Tony Sciara, this performance was developed with Lori le Mare and the HAG company, supported by HTSN.

Performance Start Times:
7:30 PM
8:15 PM
9:00 PM
9:45 PM
Each performance is roughly 10 minutes long. Please meet in The Inc.’s ArcelorMittal Dofasco Courtyard, which can be accessed through the gallery or via the Cannon St. gate entrance. Performers will be accepting PWYC donations to support the costs of production.

The Hanging is offered as part of Pressure Points: Gentrification and the Arts in Hamilton taking place April 12-13, 2019 at Hamilton Artists Inc. Pressure Points is a two-day program exploring how gentrification has been unfolding in Hamilton, and the arts community’s role in that process. What are the causes and consequences of gentrification? How can individuals and organizations work collaboratively to push for sustainable alternatives and mitigate harm to existing communities? Through performances, talks, discussions, and youth-led initiatives, Pressure Points will examine the systemic roots of urban injustices and economic disparity, and forge points of solidarity between affected populations and their allies. Click here to learn more and see the full schedule.

Image: Dia Frid and Maya Huliyappa-Menon in Rukmini's Gold, 2015. Photo: Radha S. Menon.

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Cast:

Court Official: Stephanie Park
Lawyer 1: Rick Roberts
Lawyer 2: Jesse Horvath
Tower 1: Tricia G. Cook
Tower 2: Michelle Prosek
Tower 3: Abra Bergen
Short Landlord: Erika Reesor
Tall Landlord: Lori LeMare
Tenant Linda: Marianne Vrbanic
Tenant Ron: Larry Smith
Tenant Kayley: Stephanie Vasquez

Director: Tony Sciara
Writer and Producer: Radha S. Menon
Creative Collaborator and Performer: Lori Le Mare
Set and Costume Design: Melanie Skene and Radha Menon
Production Assistant: Narika Reddy
Thank you to costumier Tanis Macarthur for loaning items for this production and to HARRRP for their in-kind support

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Creative Collaborator & performer: Lori Le Mare is the founder and director of Hamilton Aerial Group. Lori has led this circus troupe from its fledgling beginnings as a call for community participants, to its current status as a professional theatrical circus troupe. In addition, Lori is a highly skilled professional heritage surface restorer and decorator and visual artist.

@hamiltonaerialgroup     www.hamiltonaerialgroup.com
@lorilemarestudio            www.lorilemarestudio.com

Writer/Producer: Playwright, filmmaker, designer & animal fanatic Radha S. Menon began performing in British theatre and television in her youth. Her plays have been produced for many theatre festivals in Canada and the U.K. Winner of Toronto Fringe New Play Contest 2015, Rukmini’s Gold also scooped the Hamilton Fringe Critics Choice Award is to be presented in 2020.  Radha is an arts educator, founder of Red Betty Theatre and has an MFA in CW from University of Guelph. See Radha perform in her new play at Soulpepper Theatre Toronto directed by Judith Thompson: https://soulpepper.ca/performances/welcome-to-my-underworld/6884

Instagram: @lal_beti
Facebook: @lalbeti for future presentations
www.redbettytheatre.org
Support Radha’s new film @TheSailTree

Director: Tony Sciara, singer, actor, director, designer and all round funny man was born in Hamilton. He is currently touring with two musical extravaganzas, A 100 Years of Sinatra & Incanto. Screen credits include Degrassi the Next Generation, Soul Food, Odd Squad & Bad Blood. Directing credits for Red Betty Theatre include: Ganga’s Ganja, Ghost Train Riders & Cockroach.  Subscribe to Tony’s hilarious new web series Boombatz https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnRBPIVU1UawQblVnEPbRfEEktiTxutdL

Set Design: Melanie Skene is an activist-artist/puppeteer who creates and performs with puppets and masks that are frequently seen in various parades, marches, festivals and theatrical productions throughout Hamilton. In 2010, she founded Many Hands Art, a community arts organization through which she organized Solus, a summer solstice festival as part of her MA of Environmental Studies at York University.

—Posted Apr 11, 2019