Hot Brown Honey are BACK at Dublin Fringe Festival with a mobilised troop of Irish Femmes of Colour who are locked, loaded and ready to take to the stage in a brand new genre-bending, heart-thumping, mind-expanding performance.
It’s time to shift the paradigm, reclaim the narrative and explore what it means to be a Woman of Colour in Ireland through episodes of dance, song, poetry, performance and more. The time is now. Make way for the Matriarchy!
Award-winning cultural ambassadors and Hot Brown Honey co-creators Lisa Fa’alafi and Busty Beatz come together with hip hop artist Yami ‘Rowdy’ Löfvenberg and eight Irish femmes of colour to spread radical fierce love with a brand new show; Hive City Legacy: Dublin Chapter.
With skills ranging across spoken word, cabaret, dance and everything in between the extraordinary Irish cast includes singer, songwriter and poet Jess Kav, Afro-Brazilian dancer, Capoeira performer from Salvador Alessandra Azevedo and Irish-Nigerian artist and activist Osaro Azams. They are joined by recent University of Wolverhampton graduate singer and dancer Deborah Dickenson, artist, poet, performer and online figure Venus Patel and actor, dancer and singer Shauna Harris. Racial Justice Tutor, poet and dancer Tatiana Santos and dancer, performer, visual artist and artistic director of Hyper Digital Glow Andrea Williams round out the talented Dublin based ensemble. In Hive City Legacy: Dublin Chapter they will share their lived experience as Ireland-based femmes of colour and celebrate their stories in a display of joyous rage centre stage.
The genre-defying Hot Brown Honey is a multi award winning theatrical explosion from the perspective of diverse female artists with global First Nations heritage that has taken the world by storm. Part concert, part social activism, the unapologetically fierce work has played to over 60,000 people across six countries garnering widespread popular and critical acclaim. With sell out seasons, 5-star reviews, a 2017 Helpmann Award, two 2016 Green Room Awards, the UK’s Total Theatre Award for Innovation as well as a 2018 UK Theatre Award nomination for Best Touring Production, Hot Brown Honey is an extraordinary piece of theatre that spins tradition on its head, going above and beyond to challenge boundaries and embrace resilience.
Hot Brown Honey developed Hive City Legacy to address the global conversation of representation, inclusion, diversity and decolonisation on stage.
“When touring Hot Brown Honey, artists were constantly reaching out to us to ask: ‘How can I become a Hot Brown Honey? What do I need to do to make work like this?’ Our ethos is to create platforms and pathways. We created Hive City Legacy to activate this genuine interest in our work, mobilising Femmes of Colour to share their stories centre stage. Our ambition is to create HIve City Legacy in Chapters all over the world – expanding the Hive while connecting artists and audiences” – Lisa Fa’alafi
“Hot Brown Honey believes art has the capacity to create change. Through the Hive City Legacy project we hope to create unapologetic and genre defying experiences to challenge, uplift and inspire participants in the project and audiences to join a movement for change that can shift the paradigm.” – Busty Beatz
Dublin Fringe Festival invited Hot Brown Honey to share their philosophy and collaborative, cross disciplinary, live performance making process with eight Irish Femmes of Colour to create a new Hive City Legacy work especially for the festival. Dublin Fringe are committed to increasing diversity on Irish stages.
Australian producers Quiet RIOT work behind the scenes with Hot Brown Honey to cultivate partnerships, like this one with Dublin Fringe Festival, with a view to creating Hive City Legacy chapters all over the globe:
“Together with Dublin Fringe we are demonstrating how independent producers, festivals and artists can work together to create space for POC stories to shine brightly for all to see. This project is not only about supporting Hot Brown Honey’s mission to decolonise ther world one stage at a time, it’s also about creating a framework and lasting legacy for Irish femmes of colour to continue to tell their stories using the techniques they’ve learned and the connections they’ve made once the project is complete.” – Linda Catalano, Executive Producer Quiet RIOT
The first Hive City Legacy occurred in 2018 in partnership with London’s Roundhouse as part of their emerging artist performance program. It was a huge success. Hive City Legacy – London Chapter played the Roundhouse Sackler Theatre for two weeks in 2018 and again in 2019 before embarking on a UK tour including Home Manchester, Circus City Bristol and Wales Millenium Centre. The work was critically acclaimed:
Hive City Legacy: Dublin Chapter Credits
Cast and Creative Team
Weft Associate Producer: Bellaray Bertrand-Webb
