Act Natural (staged reading)

A Play by Miso Bell

16 February 2023

Developed through Fruit Box Theatre’s RIPE Development Program and presented during Sydney WorldPride in association with bAKEHOUSE Theatre Company.

  • A crew of amateur documentary filmmakers convince a timid recluse, Sam, to let them film him for a “quick” university project. Seven years later they are still filming. The constant gaze of the camera corrodes Sam into a dark, desperate imitation of the crew's ideal subject. Until he is no longer controllable, no longer just a subject but a force of subjugation.

    He is abandoned. Alone for the first time in years. With no camera, no director and no audience, Sam is left to wade through the waters of person and persona. Feeling himself sink, he turns to the footage of the last seven years.

    Act Natural is a queer ontological thriller that explores the performativity of gender and sexuality - can you truly decipher the line between a performed self and a true self?

    Join us for a staged reading of Act Natural – the first public showing of this new play and a taster of what’s to come.

  • Writer Miso Bell
    Director Emma Burns
    Producer / Dramaturg Rowan Brunt
    Executive Producers Madeleine Gandhi and Sean Landis
    Costume Designer Daniel Rogers
    Assistant Director Rebekah Parsons
    Stage Manager Alex Bryant
    AV Matthew Miceli Photography

    Sam Clay Crighton
    Director Marty Quinn
    AD ‘Ana Ika
    Boom Op Rebekah Parsons

    Special Thanks Em Small, Emily Henderson, Millsya Theda, Sarah Carroll, Shania O’Brien, Helena Gandhi and SB&W Foundation

  • Performing at KXT – Kings Cross (244-246 William St, Potts Point NSW 2011)

    Thursday 16 February
    9:00pm

  • General Admission $10

  • KX Hotel has full lift access for those with mobility needs, and all-genders bathroom facilities.

    KXT is located at 224-246 William St, Potts Point 2011. The venue does not have parking onsite, out front for drop off or pick up, but there is space to pull over on Victoria St on which the venue is one the corner off. There are bus options available on Darlinghurst Road and Kings Cross Station close by.

  • “Act Natural shows immense promise and audiences can look forward to seeing future manifestations of the Bell’s play” - Playwave