Single Ladies

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

“Ya used to get mugged around here. In the 70s, and the 80s. Even into the 90s. All types. The Aboriginals. The Serbians. Punks. Skips. You’d just punch on. People were tough around here. People were surviving.”

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.

Presented as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the world premiere of Single Ladies will be realised by and entirely female team. Directed by Bagryana Popov (Subclass 26A, Cafe Scheherezade, Sarajevo Suite, Of Cows, Women and War, Studies in Being Human) and featuring 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.

Single Ladies was developed through Red Stitch’s unique INK playwriting program, which plays a vital role in the Australian theatre landscape, by developing and producing of new Australian plays, 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.

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: 19 March – 12 April 2020 (previews: 11 – 17 March)
Information and Bookings: www.redstitch.net

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