Photo: Jodie Hutchinson
When
2022: Single Ladies, 2021 Green Room Awards, finalist, Best Performer
2021: presented by Red Stitch Theatre, 6 February to 14 March
2020: presented by Red Stitch Theatre, 11 March to 12 April (postponed due to COVID-19)
2018: selected for Red Stitch Theatre’s INK program
2017-19: development and presentation
Creative team
Presentation
Writer Michele Lee
Director Bagryana Popov
Dramaturg Emilie Collyer
Set and Costume Romanie Harper
Lighting Rachel Lee
Sound Elissa Goodrich
Stage Manager Rain Shadrach
Assistant Stage Manager Lowana van Dorssen
Performers Jem Lai, Caroline Lee and Andrea Swifte
Developments
Writer Michele Lee
Directors Bridget Balodis and Bagryana Popov
Dramaturg Emilie Collyer
Performers Jing Xuan Chan, Ra Chapman, Jem Lai, Caroline Lee, Andrea Swifte, Sarah Sutherland
About
Format
Full length play, stage
Content
Set in the sanitised grunge of Collingwood, Single Ladies is a buddy story of lone women in the city told over the course of a day.
Anne, Lilike and Rachel are from different generations and backgrounds and hold different allegiances to their neighbourhood, but a chance happening outside Coles sets them on the path to an improbable friendship.
With research and development support from Creative Yarra and the Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre INK program.
You can also listen to the companion pieces, the Single ladies now audio monologues.
Supporters
Development: City of Yarra Creative Yarra program, Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre INK program
Presentation: Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre
Publisher: Currency Press
Reviews
The beauty of the show was in its simplicity, and the entirely justified confidence that the strength of character, dialogue and relationship would tell enough of a story. Writer Michele Lee managed to create a feel-good piece that was anything but trite; it skated over bigger, complex issues with a deft, humorous touch and created such a strong sense of place and identity. Theatre Travels
With a minimalist set (not much more than six multicoloured, multi panel floor to ceiling screens and a bit of dirt), the actors build a connection with the audience. Of course, that also has a lot to do with the words on the page. The playwright is Michele Lee. The Blurb
Melbourne writer Michele Lee has an exceptional grasp on capturing the atmosphere and sound of a place… Single Ladies resonates with its story about loneliness, community and friendship coming from people we least expect it from. Time Out
The women of Single Ladies provide a collision of female experience and a rich source of humour for Lee…The play contests and resists labels and appearances… Lee is not interested in stereotypes. At times Single Ladies takes on overtones of a Melbourne Thelma & Louise, a version with a tram ride and dance scene executed with bánh mì in hand (two of the play’s joyous highlights). The film’s desert landscape is replaced by a cartography marked by cafes, restaurants and fast-food places. This is where the script zings. The Saturday Paper