Performers and Panelists
We are beyond honored to have welcomed these amazing folks to Decolonize & Discover in its third year!
The Decolonize and Discover Festival is an immersive experience, igniting the imaginations of a new generation of gamers, storytellers and fantasy lovers! We are using an intentionally inclusive approach to building a community of main characters with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences. This festival will open the world of fantasy adventure through workshops, demonstrations, and performances. Decolonize and Discover is demonstrating what happens when we stop waiting for a seat at the table and instead carve one ourselves.
Who You Saw at the 2024 Festival…
Onyx Reigns
What would Decolonize & Discover be without our fearless leader? In addition to being the founder of Decolonize & Discover, and around all weekend to help the event run smoothly, Onyx will be showing off their moves at Baddie’s Gate on Friday night!
Curly Bright
Lewd Alfred Douglas
Curly Bright is no stranger to the Decolonize & Discover Festival. Back again, for year 3, Curly will be wowing us with yet another burlesque performance for Baddie’s Gate.
Mx. Matched Sox
Mx. Matched Socks is a Drag Thing known for their psychically damaging fashion sense, crawling around on stages, and just being a silly little guy 👉👈. Are clowns hot? Yeah, duh!
Lewd Alfred (he/him) is a lost sailor, a queer necromancer, a summoned demon, a blood mage, and a drowned Victorian orphan.
His queer and trans inclusive jazz age play @letsmisbehaveplay (Instagram) is now raising funds on Kickstarter.
Lauren Elizabeth
Lauren Elizabeth (she/her) initially started doing circus for resume fluff, and to be less klutzy as an actor. However she quickly found herself in love with physical storytelling. Now she uses her art to reclaim and embody power for herself and her characters. Recent highlights have been: an acro duet of Hades and Persephone where she became the queen of hell, a YouTube video celebrating ace pride from 2022, and a short time as Carrie N Crowe - a wayward assassin turned ring wrestler with BLOWW. When she's not doing circus she is fervently crafting under the watchful eye of her two cats.
Social Channels: @streetcirque on Insta, and youtube.com/streetcirque
Christina Nolan
Jasmine Rivera
(they/them)
"I am a multimedia artist, larper, and harpist located in Braintree, MA. I am enamored with the harp; its history, how it works, and its place in the fantasy genre. I'm thrilled to share the joy of harping with my community. I am always open to questions about getting started with your own harp journey."
Socials: anofiapeach
Squirt Mae
LaLa Luscious
I am a new performer in the Boston area that likes to bring my love for fantasy to the forefront of my work. I have always had a love for Greek tragedies with queer undertones about pleasure and forgoing expectations. I like when my drag can center the ecstasy and joy of being openly queer and seductive in ways that heterosexist, misogynist storytelling have shunned.
Lala Luscious (she/her) is a certified Twerk Technician, trained at Atlanta's renowned Vertical Joe’s in 2017. She now instructs twerk classes at Fly Together Fitness in Watertown, while also showcasing her burlesque talents across the greater Boston area. Passionate about celebrating black history, she aims to raise awareness and recognition to the contributions of black culture to burlesque dance and music. Additionally, she is the proud owner of Mermaid Trash, an accessory brand offering capsule collections of wire wrapped crystal jewelry that mermaids and sirens love to hoard.
Lynsi Stevens
DJ ANANAS
Lynsi Stevens is Head Witch at Crystal Case Apothecary (C.C.A). Obsessed with magical devices and transformational items from her favorite childhood cartoons and anime, she distills the spirit of fantasy, mysticism, and DND, and creates medication cases for magical beings.
Her love of anime propelled her into a career in entertainment & talent management, where she was able to create anime and comic con expo marketing, programming, and events internationally. She is a queer alt model and enjoys indie games, comics, and immersive experiences.
Dulce de Leather
Dulce de Leather is a Mexican drag king dessert prepared by mixing Latin rhythms, a sweet attitude, a drizzle of masculinity, and lots of leather garnish.
Raquel Skellington
Raquel Skellington is a professional LARPer, storyteller, and evangelist for great games. She’s also a BIPOC creator who looks to make LARP more accessible and diverse. She will be a part of this year’s panel, “Character Creation! Expanding the Worlds of Fantasy and SciFi.”
Jasmine is an award-winning singer-songwriter whose powerful, soulful voice has captivated the local music scene in New Hampshire for a decade. Her unconventional blend of folk-pop emotes melancholy in a maelstrom. In 2020 she won the Golden Pipes Award at the Granite State of Mind Music Awards and was nominated in 2018 as Singer-Songwriter of the Year for the New England Music Awards.
TROLL 2
Twisted folk music. We play to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. Boston’s premier feminist, antiracist & antifascist folk band.
Jes Negrón
Jes (she/her) is a storyteller, working in whichever medium serves the story best. Game developer, writer, and all around creative director, she makes characters and worlds for folks who don’t get to see themselves often in media. Her game studio www.RETCONGames.com focuses on memorable narrative experiences.
In addition to being a founding board member of Decolonize & Discover who’ll be around all weekend helping the event run, Jes will be running a Dungeons & Dragons Live Play, where the crowd determines the adventure.
The ultimate Lord of the Summer Dance Floor arrives Friday night to DJ the Fae Dance Night! Virginia-raised and currently located in Massachusetts, Alternative House DJ, Musical Curator, and Producer Justin Leaphart prides his craft on the love of music.
Colton AK
Colton AK (they/them) is a steel fighter and LARP runner who got their start in technical theater and living statue performances. As an overall busy body they have found creature work is the best place to unmask and relax. May that be as a giant rat, a ghoul that searches under the dinner table for scraps, or a southern post apoc clown ready to infect the populace with tomfoolery, they are ready to play.
Mr. Meaty
Who is Mr. Meaty?
No one actually knows who Mr. Meaty is, where he came from, or scariest of all, what his credit score is.
He loves to have a good laugh and loud tumultuous fun, even if the said fun involves complete bodily dismemberment.
While not inherently evil, he is a REALLY BIG FAN of evil. He's just commiting to the bit! He might give you a playful, pun-filled ribbing or he might think it's funnier to use power tools on you. Guess you'll have to wait and see which one!
Naomi Torres-Ortiz
Naomi Torres-Ortiz is an artist and award winning LARP writer based out of Lowell, Massachusetts. Naomi loves when admirers share their take on the meanings and stories that they see in her art.
Naomi believes that our closest connection is our ability to share and tell stories. She wants us to see our own truths, our own experiences, reflected back the same way flowers reflect stars: surprising and obvious. Her passion translates into a curiosity for various mediums.
Naomi's art is expressed through paintings, drawings, illustrations and LARP writing. In the end, every story shared through her art is a way to amplify voices and showcase all the beauty she sees in this universe.