Brick Lane Bargain

Hamilton Arts Council Artist-in-Residence (2024), recipient of the City of Hamilton’s 2020 Arts Innovation Award, 2016 Theatre Award and 2022 Chalmers Fellowship, multi-disciplinary artist and animal activist, Menon began performing in British theatre and television in her youth.

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Stateless until age seventeen, Menon emigrated to Regina, Saskatchewan in 1995 where her performance career abruptly ended, and her writing career began. Her critically acclaimed plays

have been produced at theatre festivals in Canada, the US, UK and India, include Blackberry, Ganga’s Ganja, Rukmini’s Gold, Rise of the Prickly Pear, The Circus & The Washing Machine.

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Menon holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph.

Menon is passionate about the representation of marginalised communities, believing that

inclusion is imperative for all to feel valued within Canadian culture. Red Beti Theatre (RBT), Hamilton’s first feminist IBPOC (Indigenous, Black and People of Colour) theatre company was founded by Menon 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.

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Menon’s area of expertise is women’s rights, Dalit’s rights and the decolonisation of theatre, its practices and spaces. Her current area of research focuses on the decolonisation of South Asian culture after 400 years of British colonialism. She is currently developing a suite of goddess plays, Devi Triptych and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph.

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Menon is based in Hamilton and is editing her first novel, Soul Seeker.

Anubha Jha is a Toronto-based actor, playwright, director, and producer with a multidisciplinary background in theatre, media, and mass communication. With many years of prior experience in Television Industry, as a News Director, Producer, Anchor, and Show Host, and professional training as a Family Mediator, Paralegal, and Communication Specialist, she brings a deep understanding of human behaviour and social dynamics to her artistic practice.

A long-time collaborator with the SAWITRI Theatre Group of Mississauga, Anubha has worked with the company for over a decade as an Actor, Writer, Director, and Project Manager. Her critically acclaimed lead performance in 2025, where she delivered a standout lead performance in ‘Becoming Sanjina’, based on the true-life story of a transgender individual, under Bollyheels Production, earned her standing ovations and critical acclaim. Her other notable performances across various theatre festivals include a powerful 60-minute monologue performed on a wheelchair, her role as Juror No. 1 in ‘12 Angry Jurors’, another acclaimed portrayal of a transgender character in 2022, and a portrayal of a prostitute, in a 60 minutes play called ‘Chamkeeli’, for Mississauga Fringe Festival 2026, all of which received widespread praise and critical appreciation. She proudly returned to these festivals in subsequent years, contributing as Writer, Director, Producer & Actor.

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Anubha’s body of work consistently amplifies on elevating underrepresented voices, with a strong focus on senior citizens’ lived experiences. Through her production company AJ DreamZ Kreations, she has produced initiatives such as Senior Shorts and Senior Stand-Up Comedy, and continues to develop senior-focused programming. 

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In addition to her work in theatre, Anubha is also a well-known singer and a seasoned producer and presenter of musical concerts in Mississauga. For many years, she has curated and presented live music shows under her banner AJ DreamZ Kreations, collaborating with accomplished live musicians and creating memorable musical experiences that celebrate melody, nostalgia, and storytelling.

Under her banner, AJ DreamZ Kreations, Anubha was a proud presenter at the Mississauga Multilingual Fringe Festival for Four consecutive years (2022, 2023, 2025 & 2026). She looks forward to participating in the festivals in future both as the Producer, Actor and Singer.

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Anubha continues to push creative boundaries, transforming lived experiences into meaningful, impactful theatre and currently serves as General Manager for Red Beti Theatre, Hamilton.

Paromita Kar is a professional dance artist, and holds a PhD in Dance Studies and an MA in Dance from York University, Toronto. She is a performer of South Asian and Central Asian dance styles. Her core training was in classical Indian Odissi dance in the Debaprasad Das lineage of Odissi, a history and theorization of which forms the base of her research for her doctoral dissertation. She has performed in India, United States, Canada, Netherlands and Czech Republic and her work has been featured in over 20 international music videos. Past performances include Corpus Matris at Toronto Fringe Festival 2013, which was the first production in classical Indian dance at the Toronto Fringe Festival, National Choreography Festival in India, Vignettes of Sringaar workshop at The Cloud Danslab in Netherlands, and performances at National Arts Centre, Shenkman Centre for the Arts in Ottawa, Aga Khan Museum’s First Five Festival, Doors Open and Nuit Blanche events, Dance Ontario

at Harbourfront Centre Theatre, Unfinish/Unfurl Choreographic Festival at The Theatre Centre,

Toronto, and several others. Her artistic work and development has been supported by Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, Hamilton Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council and Shastri Indo-Canada Fine Arts Fellowship. Her website is: paromitakar.wixsite.com/danseuse

Chhavi Disawar is a Vancouver-based actor, writer, and creator originally from India. Her work is drawn to stories of identity, belonging, and human connection, with a particular interest in complex, emotionally layered characters and imaginative storytelling.

Her recent theatre work includes playing Friar Lawrence in Tottering Biped Theatre’s Romeo and Juliet. Her other theatre credits include A Journal of the Plague Year, The Time Machine, and Heathers: The Musical, as well as work with the Vancouver Fringe and Toronto Fringe Festivals. Her screen credits include the independent films The Clinic and Chaturanga.

Alongside acting, Chhavi writes and develops original work exploring culture, identity, and the complexities of the human experience. She is excited to be part of the play reading of Brick Lane Bargain with Red Beti Theatre.

ມະນີຄໍາ (Manikham) Marianne ວົງບູດີ (Vongboutdy) is a Laotian-Canadian Theatre Production Stage Manager and artist from a beautiful country known as Laos.

With an SHSM (Specialist High Skills Majors) in Arts and Cultures from St. Catharines Collegiate Institute & Vocational School and an BA from Brock University's Honours Dramatic Arts program with a Concentration in Production and Designs, Marianne has endeavoured herself to learn the ways of theatrical art through the primary lens of backstage as a

part of the Stage Management, Design and Creative Playwright Teams.

Over the years, she has stage managed award winning productions such as Unwritten, Nothing Left Undead, Surviving Molly Morgan (2016 -2022). She has also stage managed the Canada Summer Games Opening & Closing Ceremonies (2023), the DSBN NTS (National Theatre School) Drama Festival twice (2020-2022) and Piece of Me at the Edinburgh

Festival Fringe in Scotland (2024). During her time at Brock University, she had stage managed; The Rise and Shine Festival (2022-2023), Bound To Happen

(2023), All That Makes Us (2023), The Mysterious Mind of Molly McGillicuddy (2024) & Truth and Other Things: A Journey Through Alitheia (2024).

She also worked with many local theatre companies like; Carousel Players, Suitcase In Point, Firehall Theatre Company and Red Beti Theatre.

She is excited to join the Red Beti Theatre team again to work on the Brick Lane Bargain Project for this year. To her, art is more than just entertainment. It is education. A way to promote, preserve and contribute to who we are.

Hasheel is a South Asian Queer Hindustani Classical Musician. He began training at the age of five under his father. He also started playing the bansuri under the guidance of his first teacher and original flautist on the Life of Pi score, Shri Jeetu Sharma. He quickly excelled in both Indian and Western music and started composing and writing his own pieces at the age of thirteen. 

Hasheel lived in India to pursue his musical training and is currently a senior student of the legendary Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. Hasheel has performed around the world and across Ontario. He is also featured in numerous albums and film scores and his collaborations include those with Balkan musicians all the way to electronic House and Drum and Bass artists. 

Hasheel pushes gender fashion norms that exist in and outside of India. He often gender bends while wearing clothing inspired by Indian bridalwear. His music mixes hip-hop, electronica, R&B, and Bollywood with a steady undertone of traditional Indian Classical. 

Performances have included those with Kailash Kher, Hariharan, Karthik, Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan, Karsh Kale, and for academy award winner A. R. Rahman. He has also headlined the brOWN//out stage for Pride Toronto. His most recent work as composer, musician, and traditional music consultant for WhyNot Theatre’s modern production of the Mahabharata won him a Dora Award for Outstanding Sound Design/Composition.  

Zubin Vincent is a Toronto-based actor originally from India and trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, UK. He made his Canadian theatre debut in Hamilton with Tottering Biped Theatre’s The Tempest, where he had the pleasure of working with Radha Menon. He was involved in last year's reading of Red Beti’s Bricklane Bargain and is delighted to return to Hamilton and Theatre Aquarius for this reading. Zubin is grateful to the entire team, and especially to Dia Frid for making the introductions to this wonderful community.

Annika Venkatesh is a Hamilton-based theatre artist (actor, director, producer, usher, and whatever other tasks she can get her hands on), as well as a Registered Nurse. Through both professions, she strives to learn more about people, and build empathy, ability, and resilience in her community. She's classically trained in Bharatanatyam dance and in Carnatic vocals, and trained through life to seek delight and silliness in art and nursing! It is, as always, an honour to be here telling stories. Selected theatre credits include: Heathers (Heather Duke) with McMaster Musical Theatre, and Romeo and Juliet (Prince Escalus) and Twelfth Night (Feste) with McMaster Thespian Company (MTC). Directing credits include My Ex's Funeral (co-director) and Along For The Ride with Mac One Act, and The Scottish Play (she still can't say the real name) with the McMaster Thespian Company, which she is currently the Executive Advisor for. You can find her on Instagram at @annika.ven.2, and you can find MTC on Instagram at @macthespians for updates on their upcoming production of A Midsummer Night's Dream!