SNAKEFACE
- 8-27 Apr 25 Downstairs Theatre
SNAKEFACE
By Aliyah Knight
Directed by Bernadette Fam
- Venue Downstairs Theatre
- Dates 8-27 Apr 25
- Produced by
- Supported by
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“I’m scrapin’ Andrew’s floor with Gumption, list’nin” to a podcast ‘bout diet culture, when I realise I might technic’lly be a serial killer.”
At age 23 Snakeface is cursed by her ex to live her life as a monster. Reclaiming the violence forced upon her, she rampages through the queer clubs and art studios of Sydney. She has a lifetime of silenced words and stolen power to unleash.
Inspired by the myth of Medusa, SNAKEFACE explores the tight loop of creation and destruction. Rejected and tested, Snakeface claws at her relationship with sex, sculpture, romance, and rage in a body that has never been afforded safety.
Awarded Runner Up in the Australian Theatre Festival NYC 2024 New Play Award, SNAKEFACE interrogates the beauty and brutality of moving through white Australia in a queer Black body.
PERFORMING WITH BODY: A POST SHOW PANEL – Sun 20 April
Join us for a free post-show panel following the 5:15pm performance of SNAKEFACE with Community Engagement Lead Kelly Lovemonster (All Day Queer Dance), SNAKEFACE writer and performer Aliyah Knight, director, actor and musician Zindzi Okenyo (Play School, Critical Incident, Zindzi & the Zillionaires, Is God Is) and multidisciplinary artist Nancy Denis (Sami in Paradise, Cleverman, The Great Gatsby, Ma’p Boulé).
This artist panel will dive into the way identity and lived experience are explored and reflected in art made by those whose bodies become the site of their work. Through SNAKEFACE’s lens as a play made for Black people, Queer people and sexual assault survivors, we aim to open up a dialogue about how intersectional bodies are presented on stage.
Special thanks to Flow Studios and Randwick City Council.
Image by Teniola Komolafe.
TEAM
Cast
- Aliyah Knight
Aliyah Knight
Creatives
- Aliyah Knight
Writer & PerformerAliyah Knight
- Bernadette Fam
Director & DramaturgBernadette Fam
- Madeleine Gandhi
ProducerMadeleine Gandhi
- Keerthi Subramanyam
Set & Props Designer
Read full bioKeerthi is a Sydney based set and costume designer for live performance and film. Keerthi is a National Institute of Dramatic Art, BFA (Design for Performance, 2019) graduate, and a member of the Australian Production Design Guild. Keerthi has designed set and costumes for Belvoir’s Nayika A Dancing Girl and Lose to Win, Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s Seven Methods of […]
Keerthi Subramanyam
Keerthi is a Sydney based set and costume designer for live performance and film. Keerthi is a National Institute of Dramatic Art, BFA (Design for Performance, 2019) graduate, and a member of the Australian Production Design Guild.
Keerthi has designed set and costumes for Belvoir’s Nayika A Dancing Girl and Lose to Win, Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner, Murder for Two at Hayes Theatre, Chewing Gum Dreams at the Old Fitz, Chop Chef at Riverside Theatres, and designed the costumes on Belvoir’s At What Cost and Never Closer.
Keerthi has been an associate designer on a wide range of theatre shows including Belvoir’s Jungle and the Sea, Wayside Bride, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, Boomkak Panto, Cursed!, Sydney Theatre Company’s Grand Horizons, and Hayes Theatre Co’s Young Frankenstein.
Keerthi’s film credits include working as a design assistant on Operation Buffalo, as production & costume designer on various short films and music videos and most recently as an art director on SBS’s mini series Appetite.
Keerthi is one of Belvoir’s Artistic Associates and has also worked as their props supervisor since 2023.
- Rachel Lee
Lighting and Video Systems DesignerRachel Lee
- Marco Cher-Gibard
Sound Designer
Read full bioMarco Cher-Gibard (b. Auckland, 1983), is an artist working with sound exploring contemporary culture, expression and experience. They are a tireless collaborator and contributor to performance work. Select performance projects include Super Discount & Lady Eats Apple with Back to Back Theatre. K-BOX, Monsters & I am a Miracle for Malthouse Theatre. Laurinda for Melbourne Theatre Company, Narasima& Mohini with Raina Peterson, Siren Dance & Memoir for the River and the […]
Marco Cher-Gibard
Marco Cher-Gibard (b. Auckland, 1983), is an artist working with sound exploring contemporary culture, expression and experience. They are a tireless collaborator and contributor to performance work.
Select performance projects include Super Discount & Lady Eats Apple with Back to Back Theatre. K-BOX, Monsters & I am a Miracle for Malthouse Theatre. Laurinda for Melbourne Theatre Company, Narasima& Mohini with Raina Peterson, Siren Dance & Memoir for the River and the Dictator with Lilian Steiner, We All Know What’s Happening with Samara Hersch and Lara Thoms. New Breed for Sydney Dance Company.
Recent awards include the Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre and the International Ibsen Award with Back to Back Theatre, Greenroom awards for sound design, site innovation and multiple Melbourne Fringe awards.
- Wanyika Mshila
Costume DesignerWanyika Mshila
- Fetu Taku
Movement Director & ChoreographerFetu Taku
- Wendy Yu
Projection DesignerWendy Yu
- Rachel Seeto
Associate Director/ProducerRachel Seeto
- Laura Farrell
Vocal & Dialect Coach
Read full bioLaura Farrell (she/her) is a Voice and Dialect Coach living and working on Gadigal land. She holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Voice from NIDA; a Post Graduate Diploma in Voice from the Victorian College of the Arts; and a Bachelor of Music Theatre from the Victorian College of the Arts. A current lecturer […]
Laura Farrell
Laura Farrell (she/her) is a Voice and Dialect Coach living and working on Gadigal land. She holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Voice from NIDA; a Post Graduate Diploma in Voice from the Victorian College of the Arts; and a Bachelor of Music Theatre from the Victorian College of the Arts. A current lecturer for NIDA’s BFA, Laura has also taught on multiple Sydney actor training programs, including NIDA’s Diploma of Stage and Screen and Diploma of Music Theatre, Actors Pulse, Sydney Acting Studio, Actors Centre Australia and The University of Wollongong.
For Belvoir, Laura’s coaching credits include Into The Woods, directed by Eamon Flack (2023), Blue, directed by Deborah Brown (2023), Jungle And The Sea, directed by Eamon Flack (2022), Tell Me I’m Here, directed by Leticia Caceres (2022), Fangirls, directed by Paige Rattray (2022) and Counting And Cracking, directed by Eamon Flack (2022).
Other credits include Pear Shaped, directed by Miranda Middleton (Rogue Projects, 2023), F*** It Bucket, directed by Alyssa McClelland (LeftBank Productions UK, 2022), Reluctant Sea Shanty for UNHCR, directed by Kyra Bartley (FINCH, 2022), Picnic At Hanging Rock, directed by Claudia Osbourne (NIDA, 2022), Paper Stars, directed by Miranda Middleton (Salty Theatre, 2021) and Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again., directed by Heather Fairbairn (NIDA, Sydney 2021).
- Erica Lovell
Vocal & Dialect CoachErica Lovell
- Justice Georgopoulos
Stage ManagerJustice Georgopoulos
- Sean Landis
Marketing ManagerSean Landis
- Kelly Dezart-Smith
Community Engagement LeadKelly Dezart-Smith
- Shondelle Pratt
Wellbeing ConsultantShondelle Pratt
- Teniola Komolafe
PhotographerTeniola Komolafe
- Mia Schirmer
CinematographerMia Schirmer
- Fletcher Scully
Assistant Stage ManagerFletcher Scully
