27 January – 3 February 2021
Hear powerful and often humorous secret stories exploring sexuality, vulnerability and desire taken from interviews with butches, masculine women, gender rebels and transmen living across the world in THE BUTCH MONOLOGUES.
Based on interviews with butch-identified women living in the UK, Europe, USA, Caribbean and beyond, this work offers fresh language and intonation on butch beginnings, butch desire and desirability, butch bravado and vulnerability, butch-on-femme sex, butch-on-butch sex, switches, stones, butch as a trap, the butch body, violence, heroes and clothing.
An exciting new collaboration, THE BUTCH MONOLOGUES brings together Theatre Works St.Kilda; Hotpencil Press: an independent not-for-profit UK publishing house promoting high quality, unique, contemporary and re-visited works largely ignored by the mainstream, under the leadership of Laura Bridgeman; Vital Xposure: a dynamic touring theatre company under the creative leadership of disabled artist Julie McNamara; and a group of butches, transmen and gender rebels from Australia, who have joined together in the spirit of masculine solidarity, with the aim of promoting female masculinity and butch pride.
The performance is followed by a post-show Q&A with Laura Bridgeman, Julie McNamara and the cast.
"If you’re sick of hearing about “toxic masculinity”, this is the perfect antidote: beautifully crafted vignettes rippling with humour and humanity, struggle and desire."
★★★★ THE AGE
"As a work of art, it’s hilarious, shocking and incredibly poignant, and a pertinent reminder that all identifications – especially the ones modern queer theory might like to leave behind – remain vital ingredients in that alphabet soup."
★★★★ TIMEOUT MELBOURNE
"These stories are just not seen on our stages. So grateful for Theatre Works for programming this work and all the people who told their stories. And what beautiful performers."
DANIEL CLARKE, ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE
"The Butch Monologues is utterly excellent and I highly recommend you get a ticket and go. Warm, hot, sweet, sour, some bitter. All the flavours and sensations. Like you want a Midsumma show to be!"
ACROSS THE AISLE
"The warmth in the auditorium was something I’ve only experienced on community nights at blackfella shows"
WITNESS PERFORMANCE
“Succeeds in making us all feel loved.”
LOIS WEAVER, SPLIT BRITCHES
“An excellent piece of theatre and more than that; it’s a very tangible vehicle for social change.”
JUDE KELLY CBE, DIRECTOR OF THE SOUTHBANK
DURATION
60 minutes no interval
AUSLAN Interpreted Performance
Sunday 3rd February 9pm
Auslan Interpreter: Kirri Dangerfield
Written By
LAURA BRIDGEMAN
Directed By
JULIE MCNAMARA
Stage Manager
BUMPY FAVELL
Photo By
CRISTA HOLKA
