‘SLUTNIK’ / flick [Interview]
Legions of glitter, galactic adventures, and a band of lesbians on a critical mission. SLUTNIK, written by interdisciplinary artist of Naarm Flick, is undoubtedly the sexiest show to grace Melbourne Fringe
Directed by Tansy Gorman, produced by Katie Rowie, and starring a ferociously talented cast, the play explores ideas of gender, sexuality, and sex in a cosmic queer World.
Tired of the belligerent treatment of women on Earth, a gang of sapphics endeavor to find utopia on a new planet. But before 'lift off,' they must equip themselves for possible dangers ahead. The motherboard said so.
Like a gay nativity scene draped in sequins, nothing is too absurd in SLUTNIK. The kind of show I would bring my straight father to as some kind of educational seminar. It encompasses every element of theatre we are missing in Melbourne; brave, unapologetic, and most definitely new!
Writer Flick kindly took the time to answer a few of Verve's questions about the show below -
Please tell us a bit about the show!
SLUTNIK™ is a staged sci-fi riot that features lesbian space cannibals and their Motherboard system as they prepare to leave Earth. Basically, a group of lesbians at NASA realised that protesting and begging for humanity was getting women nowhere, and their best hope of utopia was to just fuck right off. It's got all the important parts of an action movie - fighting montages, heroism, and cheese, but with the welcome addition of lipsyncs, dance numbers, sapphic love, and the hottest space outfits I've ever seen.
What specific themes and ideas do the show address?
The inciting theme for writing this show was reproductive health and the related women's rights (or lack thereof) globally. Having a uterus is a minefield in the politicization of gender and the historic minimisation of our pain and suffering. It's complicated. Things like the pill have been liberating, but they've also caused debilitating and life-altering symptoms that are just treated like par for the course. This becomes even more complex when you're a queer person with a uterus. I'm interested in desire and hope when telling queer stories, in acknowledging pain but exploring an 'after'. It's about love, identity, revolution, hope, and… hot women.
It's also largely about the ideas of activism and liberation. What are their costs? Who do we leave behind? Do we have to leave people behind?
How long have you guys been working on the show? What has the rehearsal process been like?
I first broached the director Tansy Gorman about the idea on IDAHOBIT in 2021. From there I worked with Tansy and dramaturg Enya Daly to bring a stage-ready script for Melbourne Fringe 2021. That, of course, was canceled. Which was a blessing in disguise, because it wasn't quite cooked yet. We gave it another go at Midsumma 2022 with a great audience response. That taught me a lot about the script and what needed work. Finally, we bring you the most updated version to Melbourne Fringe 2022 with hopes for touring. Creatives like dramaturg Enya Daly, director Tansy Gorman, sound composer/designer Danni A Esposito, and performers Veronica Pena Negrette and Anastassia Krstevska have been with us from the first iteration - which has been thrilling to have them all there on the journey.
Are there any content warnings we should have a heads-up on?
Medical negligence, death/suicide/cannibalism, violence.
Created by Flick @flickflickcity
Produced by Katie Rowe @katierowey
Directed by Tansy Gorman @tgormz
Dramaturgy by Enya Daly @enya.daly
Stage managed by @janeschon
Sound by Danni A Esposito @danniaesposito
Set/costume by Natalie Gillis @nataliegillisdesign
Lighting by Giovanna Yate Gonzalez @giovanna.yate.g
Choreography by Anastassia Krstevska @anastassia.kalina
Cast:
Anastassia Krstevska @anastassia.kalina
Bugs Baschera @bugs_baschera
Teagan Nowicki @teagannowicki
Mia Tuco @miatuco
Veronica Pena Negrette @veronicapenanegrette
Matilda Gibbs @redhotttillypeppers
Words by Sarah Palmieri
Images by Chelsea Neate
Thank you for reading this article. Before you leave the page, we’d like you to take a moment to read this statement. We are asking our readers to take action and stand with the BIPOC community who fight and endure the oppression and injustice of racial inequality.
Here in ‘Australia’, Indigenous people are the most incarcerated population on Earth. Countless lives have been murdered by white police, white government policies and this country’s white history, institutionalised colonialism and ongoing racial oppression. Racial injustice continues today under the phoney, self-congratulatory politics of ‘Reconciliation’ and the notion that colonialism is something that must be denied and forgotten, an uncomfortable artefact of the past.
Feeling guilty is not enough. We must take action, pay the rent, educate ourselves and acknowledge that empathy and sorrow for past actions is insufficient if this does nothing to prevent our current reality from extending into the future.
Please consider making donations to the following organisations (the list is so small and the work to be done is so large, do your research to find more grassroots, Indigenous-lead community organisations):
Indigenous Social Justice Association - fighting to stop Indigenous deaths in custody