We invite audiences to stay after the May 4th performance of Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers, for a panel with artists and community leaders, in conversation regarding art as a place to hold space, hold grief, hold joy.
Makambe K. Simambe is a national award-winning playwright whose work includes Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers, A Chitenge Story, MUD and The Drum Major Instinct Triology. Makambe is a proud Zambian whose intention is to be of service through her ability to tell stories.
For Theatre Aquarius: Selected Acting Credits: A Chitenge Story (Handsome Alice), GIANT (Ghost River Theatre), Serving Elizabeth (Thousand Islands Playhouse), Bea (Sage Theatre), SIA (Pyretic Productions), inVISIBLE (Handsome Alice). As a Director – inVISIBLE (Too) (University of Lethbridge)
Selected Film and Television: Titans (HBO Max) Burn Your Maps (Cinelou Films), Grand Army (Netflix), and Young Drunk Punk (City TV).
Selected Awards: Dora Award Winner for Outstanding Performance and Outstanding New Script TYA (Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers – b current performing arts). Betty Mitchell Award for Outstanding Ensemble (GIANT), Betty Mitchell Award Nomination for Outstanding Performance (A Chitenge Story). Alberta Playwriting Competition (MUD).
Donna-Michelle St. Bernard aka Belladonna the Blest is an emcee, playwright and agitator. She is co-editor with Yvette Nolan of the Playwrights Canada Press anthologies Refractions: Solo and Refractions: Scenes, and editor of Indian Act: Residential School Plays. For Theater Aquarius – Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers, New Play Development -Co-ordinator. Selected Credits: Her main body of work, the 54ology, includes: Cake, Sound of the Beast, A Man A Fish, Salome’s Clothes, Gas Girls, Give It Up, The Smell of Horses, and The First Stone. Works for young audiences include the META-nominated Reaching For Starlight, The Chariot, and Rabbit King of Kenya. Opera libretti include Forbidden (Afarin Mansouri/Tapestry Opera) and Oubliette (Ivan Barbotin/Tapestry Opera).
Josh Taylor is a dancer, choreographer, storyteller and an artist-educator/mentor. Often exploring themes in Hip-Hop culture, Pop culture, sociopolitical and social justice issues, Josh aims to entertain, educate and express. Performing and creating for events and recording artists across Ontario, Josh was the 2020 recipient of the Hamilton Arts Award for Dance and Performing Arts and the 2015 recipient of the John C. Holland Award for Arts, also serving as a host for 2021 Hamilton Fringe Festival, ACCA Emancipation Day celebration and the national youth literary festival Telling Tales in 2020 and 2021. Through his work as Owner and Artistic Director of Defining Movement Dance Studio, Josh is passionate about helping movement artists of all ages find their voice, build their platform and create meaningful opportunities in dance.
Beekaa Abraham is a dancer/choreographer/mover/actor and martial artist from East Africa, Oromia. He completed the Performing Arts Preparation program at Sheridan College and has performed/created choreography for numerous shows/events in the Hamilton and GTA areas. Beekaa has facilitated at Defining Movement Dance providing workshops in creative movement through schools and youth as well as community organizations. He is a member of The Parahumans, an interdisciplinary and experimental Dance Theatre, based out of Hamilton and Toronto. He was host and MC for MATAPA’s Hamilton World Music Festival for multiple years. He was part of Hamilton Fringe Festival A.L.E.R.T (Artistic Leadership and Entrepreneurial Training) Program, where he collaborated and created a performance piece with the youth from The SPACE (formerly Ngen Youth Center) in Hamilton. This led him to the curation of R.I.T.E! (Rhythm Inspiring Transcultural Edutainment) projects which engage the community to share, despite our differences in culture, colour, and beliefs. You can catch him live on air Tuesdays at 6pm- 7:30pm on 933fm CFMU “Lace Up Radio.