Artist in Residence at McMaster University’s School of Arts (2019/20), recipient of the City of Hamilton’s 2020 Arts Innovation Award and the 2016 Theatre Award, animal fanatic Radha Menon began performing in British theatre and television in her youth. Stateless until age seventeen, Menon emigrated to Regina, Saskatchewan in 1995 where her performance career abruptly ended, and her writing career began. Her plays, which have been produced at theatre festivals in Canada, the US, UK and India, include Blackberry, Sita’s Revenge, Ganga’s Ganja, Rukmini’s Gold, Rise of the Prickly Pear, The Circus & The Washing Machine. Red Beti Theatre (RBT), Hamilton’s first feminist IBPOC (Indigenous, Black and People of Colour) theatre company was founded by Radha in 2011. Supported by a Canada Council for the Arts Digital Now Grant, 5 of Radha’s plays were adapted and produced as podcasts in 2021 by RBT.
Winner of Toronto Fringe New Play Contest 2015, Hamilton Fringe Critics Choice Award 2015, 2020 Sanhita Manch National Playwriting Contest, Sultan Padamsee Playwriting contest 2020 & Herman Voaden Playwriting award 2021 Finalist, Rukmini’s Gold was published by Scirocco Press in 2022. In addition, Menon is a filmmaker and production designer for art house films, including Nayan & The Evil Eye, (Design Award, Here Be Dragons Int. Film Festival 2015) & Finalist of Cayle Chernin Media Award, magic realism short film, The Sail Tree. Radha is currently developing a suite of goddess plays, Devi Triptych. Menon holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. She is based in Hamilton and working on her first solo exhibition, Touched by Devi opening at the Art Gallery of Hamilton in 2024.
Artist Statement
I began my arts practice as a child, acting, singing and dancing on stages and Screens in the UK. This satisfying performance career came to abrupt stop when I moved to Saskatchewan in 1995 to be married.
For the past two decades I have practiced professionally as an artist in Ontario. I am committed to sharing culturally relevant stories relating to the global South Asian diaspora.
My practice has evolved and for the past 8 years, most of my research and subsequent work revolves around the decolonisation of myself, my art and the South Asian culture. 400 years of British rule caused the dismantling of women’s roles, agency and power within the Hindu culture. The benefactors, high caste males were only to eager to gain all the power and control when ancient traditions with matrilineal communities were outlawed and a sweeping marriage act was introduced. My goal is to change this by telling stories that matter and make people think. I am currently developing a Devi Triptych, three plays about goddesses; Brick Lane Bargain, Sita’s Revenge and A Pot Made of Sand, all adaptations of ancient literature beneath a feminist and humanist lens. A reclamation of goddess culture destroyed during British colonialism where I subvert entrenched, problematic sacred literature and myths by providing alternative narratives through a feminist lens for brown women. These plays will premier in Canada and the UK in 2025. This work is supported by the City of Hamilton, Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and the National Arts Centre.
As a minority artist, I have learned to navigate the cultural industry with resilience, collaboration and creativity. After hitting the glass ceiling early in my media career and after many years, I gave up my dreams of writing and directing due to lack of support. Still determined to share relevant, edgy cultural stories, I formed a small company - due to more exclusion- Red Beti Theatre with a mission to develop, promote and produce new work that reflects cultural diversity and global experience in either its formal aesthetic, process, or content. My critically acclaimed plays have been developed and presented in Canada, the UK, US & India and have received numerous awards and accolades.
I want to share these stories with a wider audience. Although there are many people of South Asian descent here, historically there are very few stories reflecting this large demographic. Especially absent is work with strong female leading roles; my stories offer opportunities and platforms for a slew of artists while putting a tiny dent in the face of gender oppression.
Being an outsider artist has meant a long road, but this struggle has fueled my desire to create and share with others. I am an experienced performer, designer, deviser and playwright. I hold a wealth of experience including knowing how to work with underserved and under-resourced communities in accessible ways allowing for maximum impact without harm.
Themes of my work are informed by my own life experience as a South Asian femme. Dark humour and startling consequences fill the worlds I create. I wrestle with the most intimate relationships while struggling to comprehend epic history that birthed social norms as they exist today. I am fascinated with ‘his’ story while giving voice to ‘her’ story within the confines of a vast and ancient culture.
Sharing culturally relevant work to Ontario's eclectic population has meant self-producing, but it has been the vehicle to my success, which to me means attaining resources to create, develop and share my stories and vision.
