Sunday Arts Magazine

8 Feb 2021

Jen Lai – Single Ladies

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SINGLE LADIES
Written by Michele Lee
Directed by Bagryana Popov
INK World Premiere
6 February – 14 March
Featuring Caroline Lee and Andrea Swifte, & Jem Lai
Set & Costume Design Romanie Harper
Lighting Design Rachel Lee
Sound Design Elissa Goodrich
Written by the award-winning writer of Going Down and
Rice, Michele Lee, Single Ladies is 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.
Venue: Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre, Rear, 2 Chapel Street, St Kilda East 3183
Previews: 6 – 9 February
Opening Night: Wednesday 10 February
Season: 6 February – 14 March
Times: Wednesday – Saturday 8.00pm, Sunday 6.30pm, Saturday 13 March 2.00pm