After being called out by BIPOC artists, Theatre Aquarius launches new season with Indigenous play

Back in 2020, when Theatre Aquarius was called out by Black, Indigenous and other artists of colour in Hamilton for keeping their work off the stage, the theatre agreed — and promised to change.

There are signs now, as the theatre launches its 2022-23 season with Salt Baby, the creation of Mohawk and Tuscarora artist Falen Johnson, that Aquarius is welcoming plays that aren't just targeting a white and older audience. 

In a Facebook post on Aug. 25, 2020, Theatre Aquarius wrote "We acknowledge that we have had a system that perpetuates barriers of access to Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC)."

The 2020-21 season at Theatre Aquarius featured The Beehive, a 1960s musical, The Buddy Holly Story, about the American singer-songwriter who died in a plane crash in 1959 as well as a production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, among others. According to the Canadian Revenue Agency, that lineup resulted in $1.7 million in revenue for Aquarius, less than half of their annual average.

The 2022/23 season promises to be more diverse and, perhaps, more popular. 

Culture shift at the Aquarius

"We're in a recovery mode from the pandemic," said Artistic Director Mary Francis Moore.

Moore was hired as the artistic director in July 2021 and has worked with various local and national artists to redevelop Hamilton's theatre scene. 

"We have some of the most prolific artists right here in Hamilton and it's so exciting for me to arrive here and create a home for these stories and artists," said Moore. 

Moore has directed musicals and plays at Aquarius in the past, and is focusing on re-establishing good relations with Hamilton's theatre community.

Moore said, "at this point ... we want to look forward, [asking] how do we open our doors to all folks in the region?"

Johnson's Salt Baby is the first show in a production lineup featuring all homegrown talent. The show took the stage Sept. 14 and runs until Oct. 1.

It will be followed by Serving Elizabeth, a play that "explores issues of colonialism, nationalism and the question of who gets to have a voice," written by Jamaica-born Toronto playwright Marcia Johnson.

Cole Alvis, the director of Salt Baby, finds the timing of the performance early in the season to be significant.

"What I think is specific about the curation of Falen Johnson, a Mohawk-Tuscarora artist, being the first show in an all-Canadian season, is the importance of leading the season with Indigenous voices."

"For the 30-plus years that Indigenous performances have been happening, it's been in the outskirts... Only recently predominantly white institutions like Theatre Aquarius started to program Indigenous works and artists," she said.

The cast and crew of Salt Baby features many Indigenous artists that are making their Aquarius debut this year, including Alvis.

Alvis is a Turtle Mountain Michif (Métis) artist that has worked on several Indigenous productions across the country, and is excited to be working on Salt Baby.

The modern comedy centres on the story of a Six Nations woman living between both the reserve and the nearby city of Brantford, and growing up with mixed heritage. The lead is played by Chanin Lee.

Revising a period piece

Johnson's semi-autobiographical story was first staged in 2009 at the Native Arts Performing Studio in Toronto.

Since then, the show has been remounted across the country including at the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford in 2012, and in the Globe Theatre in Regina in 2017.

"It's rare for new plays to be remounted, particularly for Indigenous playwrights," said Alvis.

"Theatre Aquarius is doing some good work to alter its programming … to be more relevant to more Indigenous, Black and culturally-diverse audiences."

Still, the script needed an update, Johnson, who also a CBC podcast host, told CBC Hamilton. 

"There are some things that have changed, there are definitely things in the text I've had to update," Johnson said with a laugh. 

"There's a line about CDs that had to change because that doesn't make sense anymore." 

Johnson feels that while the story is set in 2009, it can still educate audiences.

"I feel like the concept of being white-passing and what that means has really changed since the first production and since I first wrote it. It's more common in people's vocabulary," said Johnson.

"I want my stories to be entertaining, but for people to walk away feeling changed."