Urban Ink Announces 20th Anniversary Season

Urban Ink was planning it largest season ever to celebrate its 20th Anniversary, but the world has been turned upside down. With stages dark and plans postponed, Urban Ink decided to proceed with the celebration, digitally, and is committed to continue to do what it has always done over its 20 years - uplifting Indigenous and diverse voices.

A true visionary since its inception, this professional Indigenous and diverse company has been ahead of the curve by igniting conversations across the country by telling unique and important stories. What sets Urban Ink apart from other organizations? Over its 20 year history Urban Ink has been resolute and consistent in its mission to uplift Indigenous and diverse artists by breaking barriers through performance, story and conversation. As a leader in the theatre community, their unwavering mission has empowered artists and created a place for marginalized voices on the mainstages of this country, through strategic partnerships, and collaboration with a focus on inclusivity and social change.

"There has never been a more important time than now for us to celebrate our vision that has lasted 20 years", stated Corey Payette, Artistic Director. "The company, founded by Métis theatre and filmmaker Marie Clements in 2001, has always been a place for bold and uncompromising storytelling. And Urban Ink has always been a place that has put the power in the hands of IBPOC artists to be the leaders of the stories they want to tell and how they want to tell them."

As with other companies, due to Covid-19, Urban Ink's original scheduled season of productions has been postponed and will be rescheduled. In the current evolving social and political landscape, with live stages dark and communities feeling isolated, Urban Ink is seizing this moment in time to nurture the IBPOC work in the national and international community and lead with new ways of working and looking at everything through an Indigenous lens - influencing our dialogue, language and conversations.

"To truly impart social change in our sector and community, and to truly make space for Indigenous and diverse voices across Turtle Island, we must continue to push further. It involves a fundamental cultural shift at our core to embrace and explore new perspectives and processes" states Melissa Tsang, Managing Director. "We are whole heartedly all-in - from our staff to our board - to embrace an Indigenous lens in all of our operations, not only in our artistic practice but in our administrative and operational practices and governance. We're committed to incorporating Indigenized practices, we're committed to centring Indigenous and diverse artists and stories, and we are celebrating and building on 20 years of this work at Urban Ink."

To launch their 20th Anniversary season Urban Ink & The Cultch partnered with a digital presentation of TRANSFORM Cabaret Festival from Sept. 24 to Oct. 3, 2020. Unlike any other festival in the world, it is comprised of seven explosive days of bold, uncompromising, and political performances. The festival will feature Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists from London, Moncton, Montreal, Toronto, Melbourne and our local unceded Coast Salish Territories in a variety of performance styles including theatre, music, drag, burlesque, circus, comedy and everything in between.

For the remaining of the season, Urban Ink is continuing their mission to uplift Indigenous and diverse voices by working with theatre creators in development of the following productions.

Urban Ink is excited to announce Cheyenne Scott as our 2020-21 Artist in Residence, which includes a mentorship in artistic direction and the development of her new play, Wolf Cull. She has been working as a performer and juggling her work as a writer for a number of years while performing in the last 3 national tours of Children of God.

Another unique voice is Kamila Sediego's, Homecoming. As first generation Filipino Canadian, the play centers on stories of the Filipinx-diaspora and an attempt to understand and give reverence to her roots, identity and her parents.

Khari Wendell McClelland, a talented musician and evolving artist originally from Detroit, has become a darling on the Canadian music scene. Confluence is his new work in development. Set in the future, the musical is a story between Indigenous and black communities. His song writing crosses genres and generations, invoking the spirit of his ancestors who straddled the United States-Canada border in efforts to escape slavery and discrimination.

Commissioned by The Musical Stage Company and The Aubrey & Marla Dan Fund for New Musicals, is a new work with book, music and lyrics by Corey Payette titled Rebellion.

The final work in development for the season is A Conversation with Burnt Cork by Monice Peter. Burnt Cork explores deep-seated questions about race, racism and what was acceptable in the all too misunderstood art form of Blackface. It also explores how the present artistic generation can learn and honour those artists that came before.

The season will conclude with a digital celebration of our 20th Anniversary. There will be a series of videos that showcase the depth and scope of Urban Ink's 20 years; telling the story of the company's foundation, how it evolved over the years and their future vision all told through digital performances and interviews with past company artists and leaders.

Ink's commitment to diversity is reflected in all areas of the organization, from its productions and creative teams to its Board of Directors over the years. Moving forward, it will continue supporting and celebrating Indigenous and diverse voices through art that stimulates dialogue and understanding of its individuals, always encouraging safe and ethical practices based on empathy, compassion, generosity, humility and respect. Here's to another evolving 20 years!

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