Hey! Precious is the name for performance projects lead by Michelle, in collaboration with a bunch of cool artists.
I hope my love never finds you (2021)
These pictures from KISS Club are by Daniel James Grant
I hope my love never finds you is a new work in development. It's a solo about pristine vistas, ecological grief, and the aching paradox of loving something so much that you hope to never touch it. It's currently looking for a presentation opportunity as a full-length work.
It was first supported by STRUT Dance as part of their Short Cuts studio season (2021). It was then presented as a ten-minute work in development at KISS Club (2021), presented by PICA and pvi collective.
The Team
Creator/performer: Michelle Aitken
Dramaturg: Andrew Sutherland
Sound designer (Short Cuts)/Collaborator (KISS Club): Jess Nyanda Moyle
These pictures from Short Cuts are by Mitchell Aldridge
This video is from KISS Club and was filmed by Emma Fishwick and edited by me obvs
Kind Regards, Michelle Aitken is a new script, written under the mentorship of Jeffrey Jay Fowler as part of Black Swan State Theatre Company's 2019 Emerging Writers' Group.
It's a questionably autobiographical solo show about peace offerings, the gig economy, and unrequited emails.
Maybe there will be performances in 2021?
Stay tuned
(2019)
Alicia sits on a chair, dressed as an 80s werewolf in a flanny and a mullet wig
Rhi stands in the bath testing the water temperature of an imaginary shower. Everything is soft pink and green
The cast is doing a dance that's reminiscent of thriller
Alicia sits on a chair, dressed as an 80s werewolf in a flanny and a mullet wig
Unrule was first developed through The Blue Room Theatre Winter Nights in 2018, and was presented as part of the 2019 Development Season. Watch the highlight reel here!
The team:
Director & AV designer: Michelle Aitken
Performers & Collaborators: Chelsea Gibson, Mani Mae Gomes, Alicia Osyka, and Rhiannon Petersen
Dramaturg: Alexa Taylor
Designer: Olivia Tartaglia
Lighting & Sound Designer: Joe Lui
Publicist: Scott Mcardle
Producer: Noemie Huttner Koros
All photos by Pixel Poetry. See more of Susie's work here!
Production photos
Pictures from a day spent telling stories with a group of women as part of Winter Nights
...breaks all the rules, in typical Aitken style
Kieran Eaton for Fourth Wall Media
...insightful, relatable, thought-provoking and jovial entertainment.
...a raw and honest work.
Claire Trolio for Seesaw Magazine
Olivia Tartaglia’s extremely complex and highly decorated set is a visual feast, with Joe Lui’s lighting and sound design full of very bold, very strong choices.
The performers have excellent rapport and deliver what (I assume) are often their own stories with self-deprecation, honesty, good humour and feeling.
Kimberley Shaw for Stage Whispers
Feminist horror at its finest.
Unrule is your best mates telling you their deepest secrets, weirdest quirks and most embarrassing moments. You may not remember exactly what they said but you’ll remember how they made you feel, and Unrule left me feeling hopeful for a female future.
Katie Bennett for Isolated Nation
'some very silly, daggy humour... I wouldn’t even know how to pin that kind of humour'
'I loved it'
Nick Mortlet and his friend Molly for Pelican Magazine
There will be blood... menstrual blood...
Unrule is inspired in part by the work of feminist scholars Barbara Creed and Julia Kristeva on the monstrous- or abject-feminine, and in part by the prom scene from Carrie.
Stemming from personal stories, the show looks at what it means to be distrusted, dismissed, and misdiagnosed by medical professionals as a woman.
Unrule is a spooky-scary spectacle that's part cabaret, part horror movie, and part sharing secrets with a circle of your closest friends.
Nominated for:
Best Production Team,
Best Design (Olivia Tartaglia),
Best Campaign,
and the Members Choice award
At the 2019 Blue Room Theatre Awards
Photo by Marshall Stay
Production Photos by Rupert Reid (1st one in purple) and Erin Repp (the rest)
Future's Eve began as a work-in-development at STRUT Dance's Short Cuts season (2017)
It premiered at FRINGE WORLD Festival 2018, as part of Peaks at Paper Mountain, where it sold out, before being programmed for an encore season at The Blue Room Theatre Summer Nights.
Future's Eve was the recipient of the 2018 Melbourne Fringe Festival Tour Ready Award, and toured to Bondi Feast (NSW), The Basement Theatre (Auckland, NZ) and Melbourne Fringe Festival (VIC).
The team:
Creator & performer & AV Designer: Michelle Aitken
Composer: Azariah Felton
Designer: Olivia Tartaglia
Lights & tech assistance: Joe Lui and Roger Miller
Stage Manager & Production Manager: Catherine O'Donoghue (Fringe), Joe Lui (Bondi), Rhiannon Petersen (Auckland, Melbourne)