Single Ladies set to premiere at Red Stitch

RSAT-Single-Ladies-photo-by-Robert-BlackburnFrom the award-winning writer of Going Down and Rice, Michele Lee will make her Red Stitch Theatre debut this February with the world premiere of Single Ladies – a hilarious buddy story of three lone women told over the course of one day.

Set in the sanitised grunge of Collingwood, Anne, Lilike and Rachel are from different generations and backgrounds and hold different allegiances to their neighbourhood – but a chance happening outside the local Coles sets them on the path to an unlikely friendship.

This world premiere of Single Ladies was developed through Red Stitch’s unique INK playwriting program and was in its first week of previews in March 2020 when it had to close due to Covid-19 restrictions. During lockdown, Michele developed a series of short audio works based on the three characters from Single Ladies. As an introduction to the three characters, the monologues created during Covid-19 can be found at www.redstitch.net.

The INK playwriting program plays a vital role in the Australian theatre landscape, developing and producing new Australian plays, and nurturing works to their fullest potential. The INK program has been responsible for developing works such as Jurassica by Dan Giovannoni, The Honey Bees by Caleb Lewis, desert, 6:29pm by Morgan Rose, Lamb by Jane Bodie and Control by Keziah Warner.

Michele Lee is a Hmong-Australian playwright with a razor-sharp eye for the contradictions of multiculturalism and the interplay between sexuality, identity, displacement and desire in contemporary culture. At 29, she wrote her debut novel, Banana Girl, an irreverent and poignant memoir about living in an on-line world, Gen Y yearnings and the pressures of being a young artist.

The world premiere of Single Ladies will be realised by an entirely female team. Directed by Bagryana Popov (Subclass 26A, Cafe Scheherezade, Sarajevo Suite, Of Cows, Women and War, Studies in Being Human) it features Red Stitch Ensemble members Caroline Lee and Andrea Swifte alongside guest actor Jem Lai, with set and costume design by Romanie Harper, lighting by Rachel Lee, and sound design by Elissa Goodrich.

Director: Bagryana Popov Featuring: Jem Lai, Caroline Lee, Andrea Swifte Dramaturg: Emilie Collyer Set and Costume Design: Romanie Harper Lighting Design: Rachel Lee Sound Design: Elissa Goodrich Stage Manager: Rain Shadrach Assistant Stage Manager: Lowana van Dorssen


Single Ladies
Red Stitch Theatre, Rear 2 Chapel Street, St Kilda East
Season: 10 February – 14 March 2021 (previews: 6 – 9 February)
Information and Bookings: www.redstitch.net

Image: Andrea Swifte, Jem Lai and Caroline Lee to feature in Single Ladies – photo by Robert Blackburn