By Emily R. Zarevich, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The annual Hamilton Fringe Festival, which is being held from July 15 to 26, 2026, is a yearly opportunity for local artists to express themselves. They use theatre to explore themes such as sexuality, disability, discrimination, and other pressing social issues. This year, a Burlington-based playwright is using community theatre as a means for expressing political discontent.
On Thursday, July 16, 2026, writer, performer, and activist Tim Katty debuted his politically charged one-man show on the stage at Mills Hardware, one of the converted venues for the festival. This individualistic venture into satire, which Katty wrote himself and performs independently, is titled Doug Ford, We Won’t Touch the Greenbelt.
There are various outlets for voters to publicly communicate that they are unsatisfied with the decisions being made by their elected governments. Some people write opinion articles in national newspapers. Others start podcasts, make YouTube videos, and give speeches on podiums. Katty’s chosen platform is the stage, and he delivers his stances with a parodic 55-minute monologue that contains songs, protest chants, and sarcastic humour.
Katty, in the context of his play, assumes a caricature and pretends to be Premier Doug Ford giving an address, depicting the politician as a cartoonishly evil supervillain intent on destroying the environment. This creative decision is Katty’s unique way of articulating the controversy surrounding Doug Ford’s decisions regarding development on the Greenbelt.
On opening night, Katty performed his show in a simple black suit with a purple undershirt. The show’s background was an original pencil crayon drawing of power plants emitting smoke. The lights were dimmed whenever Katty transitioned from Ford’s speech to an aside explaining the habits of one of Canada’s endangered species, which were represented with delicate paper cutouts. Katty stood at the very edge of the stage the whole time, confronting his audience head-on.
The script of the play covers many of the topics that have made Doug Ford’s term as premier a point of discussion among the people of Ontario, whose viewpoints on Ford’s policies are divided: animal rights, the state of Canada’s health care system, the education system, and the public scandals generated by Ford’s late brother, Rob Ford. But the main focus of the play always turns back to the Greenbelt, which Katty’s comedic version of Ford targets with amplified greed. Katty’s script utilizes the literary device of repetition to emphasize major messages. “We won’t touch the Greenbelt” is a frequently evoked phrase.
Doug Ford, We Won’t Touch the Greenbelt is bold play performed with genuine passion. Katty can be commended for delivering such complex and sensitive prose entirely from memory, breathlessly, and often without pause. The script is thought-provoking and requires the audience to reflect deeply. However, this show’s premise may not appeal to everyone, as Burlington and Hamilton’s populations consist of people of many different political opinions and stances. Attendees should exercise viewer discretion.
Katty will be holding an affinity performance of his play on Sunday, July 26, 2026, the final day of his show’s run. This performance, as stated by the playwright on his Hamilton Fringe Festival page, will be in support of 2SLGBTQ+ and First Nations communities. Tickets to all remaining performances of Doug Ford, We Won’t Touch the Greenbelt can be purchased for $14.00 here. Tickets for kids under the age of 12 are $5.00, and admission for kids under the age of 2 is free. All patrons purchasing a ticket for the first time are required to also purchase a one-time $5.00 Fringe Button to help support the Fringe Festival’s continued operations.
Burlington residents interested in further supporting our city’s creatives can buy tickets to the Fringe Festival’s Intro to Adult Acting, which is being put on by the Burlington-based theatre company We Tried Theatre Inc. Lisa Marie Morris is the playwright, director, and producer.
