seven methods of killing kylie jenner / Program (2023)

Malthouse acknowledges the unceded lands of the Kulin Nation. We acknowledge their sovereignty and their Songlines. We pay respect to their Elders and their Children. We embrace and celebrate the oldest culture in the world.

A Darlinghurst Theatre Company and Green Door Theatre Company co-production, seven methods of killing kylie jenner was first performed at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Sloane Square, on Thursday 4 July 2019.

This duo is serving the tea hot and keeping receipts. PERIODT.

Forbes Magazine claims Kylie Jenner’s a “selfmade billionaire” and Cleo isn’t having a bar of it. She’s got a lot to say and on the internet, actions don’t always speak louder than words… “Look it’s two tweets that helped me vent my frustrations. It’s really not that deep…” As URL beef brings up IRL tensions, Cleo and Kara have more issues than getting #blocked will solve. If Black Twitter hasn’t snatched your edges yet, these two bawss-babes surely will. seven methods of killing kylie jenner is a deep dive into the murky waters of colourism and the commodification of Black women.

AnAfterthought, from the Plawright. Saartjie, or Sarah Baartman as she became later known, was a South African woman born in the Eastern Cape in 1789. After being transported as a curiosity throughout Europe during the late 18th and early 19th century, she died at the tender age of 26 due to unknown causes. In death, her body was put on display at France’s Musee de L’Homme until 1974. On 9 August 2002, after a series of requests from Nelson Mandela, her remains were successfully repatriated to South Africa and buried in Hankey in the Eastern Cape. If you are interested in learning more about Saartjie Baartman’s story, I’d highly recommend Representation and Black Womanhood: The Legacy of Sarah Baartman (2015), an essay anthology collated by Natasha Gordon-Chipembere, a book which greatly inspired and influenced this play.

Cast & Creatives

JASMINE LEE-JONES WRITER

Jasmine Lee-Jones is an actor and writer based in North London. Her first full- length play seven methods of killing kylie jenner opened at The Royal Court in July 2019 and won the 2019 Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, the 2019 Stage Debut Award for Best Writer, the 2019 Alfred Fagon Award, the 2020 Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright, and won the European New Talent Drama Award 2020. Other writing credits include Living Newspaper (Royal Court Theatre, 2020); My White Best Friend (Bunker Theatre, 2019), Curious... (Guildhall/ Brainchild), Dark Matter (Beyond the Court), Say Her Name, Drinking Concrete [co-writer] (Open Court).

Training includes Royal Court Supergroup (2018-2019), Guildhall School of Music and Drama (2016-2019), the BBC London Writers’ Group (2017), The Andrea Project Writing Group (2017), and Soho Young Writers’ Lab (2016). In theatre, she is currently under commission to the Royal Court Theatre, Soho Theatre, and Headlong Theatre. Screen work includes a short community-led film in development with the Young Vic, and adapting a major novel into a TV series for

ZINDZI OKENYO CO-DIRECTOR

Soon after graduating from NIDA in 2006 Zindzi was cast in The Vertical Hour , The Crucible for Sydney Theatre Company, and Scorched for Company B Belvoir. From 2009 to 2011 she was a member of the Residents Company at STC. In 2012 Zindzi toured Europe and USA with A History of Everything and began as a presenter on ABC’s Playschool . In 2013 Zindzi won a Best Female Performer Award for her role in STCSA’s Random . She has performed for Griffin in Masquerade and The Girl in Tan Boots. For STC— Grand Horizons , The Golden Age , Boys will be Boys , A History of Everything , Money Shots , Before/After , Blood Wedding , The Company of Errors , The Oresteia , vs Macbeth , The Crucible , The Mysteries: Genesis , The Vertical Hour , MTC—An Ideal Husband , Disgraced , Belvoir— Prize Fighter , La Traviata , Scorched , Bell Shakespeare— Much Ado About Nothing , Antony and Cleopatra , Ensemble— The Rasputin Affair , Good People , State Theatre Company of South Australia— Random , Darlinghurst— Gaybies , Theatre Ink— Angels in America . Most recently Zindzi was Co-Director on Darlinghurst Theatre’s highly acclaimed first season of seven methods of killing kylie jenner and was Assistant Director on Death of a Salesman for Sydney Theatre Company.

As well as Playschool , Zindzi’s television roles include— Wakefiel d, The Code , Hiding , Janet King, Harrow and Get Krack!n (ABC) and Wonderland and Sisters (Network10). In feature films she has appeared in Abe Forsythe’s Little Monsters and Dean Murphy’s The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee . Zindzi also performs her own music under the name ‘OKENYO’.

SHARI

SEBBENS

CO-DIRECTOR

Shari is a resident artist at Sydney Theatre Company. In 2018 she was named the Richard Wherrett Fellow. 2020 saw Shari mark her directional debut with Superheroes for Griffin Theatre. In 2021, she directed seven methods of killing kylie jenner for Darlinghurst Theatre Company and The Seven Stages of Grieving for Sydney Theatre Company. Throughout the 2021 COVID lockdown, she directed three online creative developments— The Lookout for Moogahlin Performing Arts, Untitled Work for Ilbijerri Theatre Company and Curiosity for STC’s Rough Draft. Shari’s acting credits in theatre include: for Griffin— The Bleeding Tree ; for Griffin Theatre/Queensland Theatre— City Of Gold ; for Griffin/La Boite— A Hoax ; For Belvoir— Back At The Dojo , Radiance ; for Black Swan State Theatre Company— Our Town ; for Darwin Festival— Wulamanyuwi and the Seven Pamanui ; for Queensland Theatre— An Octoroon ; for Sydney Theatre Company— A Cheery Soul , Black Is The New White , The Battle of Waterloo . Shari’s film credits include— Australia Day , The Darkside , The Sapphires , Teenage Kicks , Thor: Rangarok , Top End Wedding . Her television credits include, for ABC— 8MMM , Aboriginal Radio , Black Comedy , The Gods of Wheat Street , The Heights , Redfern Now (for which she was awarded the Logie Award— Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New Talent) and for SBS— The Whole Table and A Chance Affair . Shari trained in Aboriginal Theatre at WAAPA and graduated from NIDA with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting).

IOLANTHE CAST

Iolanthe views the world from a both a curious and critical lens. It is in this sentiment that she finds comfort and purpose in acting; especially in works that pose new and fresh narratives. Iolanthe is a biracial young woman of Afro-Caribbean, British and Norwegian background, and has lived in so-called “Australia” (Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne) for a decade. The other half of her life was spent living in Reading (England), where she started learning Norwegian. The duality of places-of-residence and of cultural heritage brings a fresh perspective to her work, and a widespread awareness of stories across the world. When she’s not working, you’ll find her watching Broad City or Chewing Gum with a cuppa tea! In the past few years she has found a keen interest in writing and the idea of development of her own work. Iolanthe is currently studying at NIDA (BFA Acting) and is set to graduate in 2022.

Cast & Creatives

CHIKA IKOGWE CAST

CHIKA IKOGWEChika Ikogwe is an award-winning NigerianAustralian Actor, Writer and graduate of The National Institute of Dramatic Art (2018).

Chika has worked extensively in the industry on shows such as Fangirls (dir. Paige Rattray), Dance Nation (dir. Imara Savage)& The Wolves (dir. Jessica Arthur). She made her television debut in the titular role of Mikki in ABC’s Mikki vs the World in 2021 and plays the role of Jojo Obah in Netflix’s Heartbreak High . Most recently, Chika just wrapped the role of Nia Branson in feature film Land of Bad alongside Russell Crowe. Chika was the recipient of the 2018 BBM Youth Support Award in Drama, the 2018 Leslie Walford AM Award, winner of Best Newcomer at the Sydney Theatre Awards in 2019 and recipient of The 2020 ATYP Rose Byrne Emerging Female Leader in the Arts scholarship. She’s incredibly passionate about equity and representation, and strives to bring authentic Afrocentric stories to the forefront of Australian stages and screens.

KATE BALDWIN LIGHTING DESIGNER

Kate Baldwin is an emerging Asian-Australian Lighting Designer, who lives and works on Gadigal and Wangal land. She is a Design Associate at Sydney Theatre Company. She has had the joy of collaborating as a lighting designer on recent projects such as— Death of a Salesman (Associate Lighting Designer - Sydney Theatre Company), seven methods of killing kylie jenner (Darlinghurst Theatre Company and Green Door Theatre Company), Ching Chong Chinaman (Slanted Theatre), and Blue Christmas (New Ghosts Theatre Company). Furthermore, she is currently a Design Artist with Kallective Productions, and a graduate of NIDA’s Technical Theatre and Stage Management BFA. Kate is passionate about creating more opportunities and safe spaces for First Nations Artists and Artists of Colour. She is committed to working with other artists who are actively and openly working towards anti-racism, as well as those who are also learning how to decolonise their arts practice.

KIM ‘BUSTY BEATZ’ BOWERS SOUND DESIGNER

Music Director, Composer, Sound Artist and Multi-disciplinary performance maker, Busty Beatz has been creating fearless art to activate, pollinate and liberate for over 25 years. Of Xhosa heritage and living on the unceded territories of the Yuggera People, Busty works across music, theatre, film, dance, circus, visual arts and is the co-creator and MD of Hot Brown Honey – the smash-hit, genre defying, awardwinning firecracker of a show that’s taken the world by storm. Adhering to a manifesto of creative, collective power through collaboration, Busty Beatz creates global sonic experiences intersecting disciplines, politics, activism and soundlines.

KEERTHI SUBRAMANYAM PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Keerthi is a Sydney based set and costume designer for film and live performance. Keerthi is a National Institute of Dramatic Art, BFA (Design for Performance, 2019) graduate, and a member of the Australian Production Design Guild. In her final year at NIDA, Keerthi worked as a set and costume designer on theatre shows including The House at Boundary Road and Flora , and co-designed a music video for Blue Velvet as part of Triple J Unearthed. In 2020 and 2021, Keerthi has worked as a designer on short films and music videos, has styled promotional photoshoots for theatre companies, and was an assistant costume designer on Belvoir’s Cursed and The Boomkak Panto as well as an assistant set and costume designer on Hayes’ Young Frankenstein . She also designed set and costumes for Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s seven methods of killing kylie jenner , Chop Chef at Riverside Theatres, and designed the costumes and is an associate set designer on Belvoir’s At What Cost . She is currently working across theatre and art installation.

ANGELA SULLEN VOICE & DIALECT COACH

Angela Nica Sullen is an Italian, African American woman from the United States. She grew up in California and on Noongar country in Western Australia. Angela is an actor, vocal coach, writer, mc and stand-up comedian. Now based on Gadigal land, she studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art, completing Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) and Master in Fine Arts (Voice). She has performed in Force Majeure Nothing To Lose (2015), Blackbirds (2016), STC Mosquitos (2019), Brown Skin Girl (2019), Faust (2019). Angela’s screens credits include I Am Woman (2020) and Bump (2021).

Angela is currently an Associate Lecturer for Voice at the National Institute of Dramatic Art and is also working on Seen a new television series produced by Rough Diamond, inspired by Brown Skin Girl a play she collaborated with creative collective Black birds.

Cast & Creatives

TYLER FITZPATRICK STAGE MANAGER

Tyler is a theatre technician, stage/production manager and theatre maker based on Dharawal Land. She graduated with Distinction from the University of Wollongong, earning the Merrigong Theatre Company Production Prize. Tyler has been the Production and Operations Manager at Shopfront since 2020, and services arts organisations as a Production Associate with The Paperjam Partners. Production Manager credits are A Practical Guide to Self Defence (NTofP/Merrigong), DUST (Milk Crate) Nothing (NTofP), Mirage (Campbelltown Arts Centre, 2022), Fledgling (KXT 2022, MerrigongX, 2021), Chop Chef (Blush Opera, 2021), The Complication of Lyrebirds (Sydney Festival/Campbelltown Arts Centre, 2021). As a lighting designer, Tyler lit Moon Rabbit Rising , presented at Belvoir 25A by The Little Eggs Collective and has designed every Shopfront show since 2019. In 2021, Tyler was the acting Associate Producer at Merrigong Theatre Company and is one half of the all-female team behind Purple Tape Productions.

WENDY YU AUDIO VISUAL DESIGNER

Wendy Yu is an interdisciplinary artist actively practising in the fields of dance and urban media placemaking. She is a Masters graduate in Interaction Design and Electronic Arts at the University of Sydney and intends to further her research on creative interfaces between dance and city spaces through further research. Her works of urban media placemaking have seen installation in Atlanta USA, the Powerhouse Museum Sydney, Carriageworks, the Inner West City Council, Woollahra City Council, numerous arts festivals in Sydney, Melbourne, Poland, St. Petersburg, Beijing, Berlin, including Beijing Tech Arts Festival 2021, where she also gave a lecture on dance and computational design. Wendy Yu has undergone residencies with the Municipality of Woollahra, the Inner West City Council, Ausdance dance artist in residence residency program, March dance residency program, Bundanon residency program, Centre for Projection art residency etc. where she conducted theoretical

BERNADETTE FAM

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CONSULTANT

Bernadette Fam is an interdisciplinary dramaturg, director and theatre-maker. As an artist, Bernadette is passionate about exploring the intricacies of identity, belonging and cultural connection in Australia’s current socio-economic landscape. As Dramaturg Bernadette has worked with a range of companies including but not limited to: Playwriting Australia, PYT Fairfield, Sydney Chamber Opera, Poetry in Action, Critical Stages Touring, Green Door Theatre Company, Rogues Projects and Antipodes Theatre.

Bernadette has worked as a script assessor for Sydney Theatre Company and Griffin Theatre Company. As director Bernadette directed Chewing Gum Dreams by Michaela Coel (Green Door Theatre Company/Red Line Productions) and St Marys Kid Ensemble (Q Theatre). She has directed new work developments for Green Door Theatre Company, Critical Stages Touring and Griffin Theatre Company. She assistant directed The Lifespan of a Fact (Sydney Theatre Company), Young Frankenstein (Hayes Theatre Company) and Lady Tabouli (National Theatre of Parramatta). In 2022 she was a Literary Associate for Belvoir Theatre Company, a Griffin Studio artist and Creative Producer at Green Door Theatre Company. She is currently New Work Manager at Malthouse Theatre Company.

EFFIE NKRUMAH

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CONSULTANT

Effie Nkrumah is Benumah, an interdisciplinary artist, writer and performer brought up on Gadigal and Darug countries.

She is the voice of Astra, the first Ghanaian Agent in Valorant by Riot Games, creators of League of Legends, and a contributor in Maxine Beneba Clarke’s Growing up African in Australia anthology. Her practice relies on memory and the archive and is driven by the concept of challenging the single story of Africa through stories of continental Africans in diaspora. She thinks and writes about the concept of Blackness, the construct of race and how these shape lives, creating work that is entertaining, aesthetically pleasing and discussion prompting. Her installation See What I See has been performed in Sydney, New York and Accra. She has choreographed, performed in and stage-managed over 20 productions for Ghana’s Roverman Productions and holds an MA in Arts Politics from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Cast & Creatives

HENRIETTA AMEVOR

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CONSULTANT

Henrietta Amevor is a Sydney Based Ghanaian artist who made her professional stage debut playing Naome in Outhouse Theatre’s The Rolling Stone Henrietta’s further theatre credits include Bontom’s

The House at Boundary Road Liverpool , and Tinderbox Production’s Claudel . On screen, Henrietta has made her professional debut playing Talia in the Stan Original Series, BUMP . Henrietta has also participated in multiple play developments such as the Belvoir’s Artist’s at work shutdown residency with Greendoor Theatre, for the development of Chika Ikogwe’s Chioma’s Party , Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s development of Kirsty Marillier’s The Zap , and the development of new work The Yam Corsage for Riverside’s National Theatre of Parramatta’s playwriting festival, True West. Henrietta was also a part of the community engagement team for the sold-out Jasmine Lee-Jones play, seven methods of killing kylie jenner

MOREBLESSING MATURURE

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CONSULTANT

Moreblessing Maturure is a Zimbabwean/Australian inter-disciplinary artist, TEDx Speaker and the Creative Director of FOLK Magazine. Her work across literature, stage and screen as a performer and writer has included engagements with Playwriting Australia (PWA), ATYP, and Sydney Theatre Company. Currently, she’s developing Screen Australia funded projects: Afro Sistahs and MASC (Revlover, Easy Tiger) alongside an audio/live hybrid— Milk & Honey & Lemons (Campbelltown Arts Centre, Next Wave) premiering later this year. Recently she developed her comedic anthology No Pink Dicks (Darlinghurst Theatre Company, PWA) and wrapped up a chaotic 2020, with a Best Artist win at the FBi Radio SMAC awards. You may know her face from ~the internet~ and various projects including, Back to the Rafters , The Retreat and Seachange: Reboot .

Parallel, she works across the entertainment industry, advocating for anti racist practices alongside considered and diverse representation in her role as Co-Chair of MEAA’s Equity Diversity Committee.

2 SYDNEY STYLISTS WANYIKA MSHILA NIWA MBURUJA COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CONSULTANT

Wanyika Mshila & Niwa Mburuja; two friends who came together over a shared love for style, culture, self-expression and empowerment. We are inspired by our home city, Sydney and enjoy exploring the different creative avenues it has to offer. It is this explorative mindset that we bring to our work, with the aim of inspiring you to step into the fullness of your story.

2 Sydney Stylists is a transdisciplinary Curatorial Agency that works to help our clients craft and tell stories that foster Cultural Diversity and Inclusion. We do this by creating content, facilitating workshops (IRL and URL), hosting experiences and curating visual and performing Arts. We are skilled Creative and Artistic Directors as well as Project Managers with a combined experience of over 10 years.

Our previous clients include Sydney Opera House, Youth Off the Streets, Bankstown Youth Development Services (now Outbound) and Africultures Festival. We have been supported by Australia Council for the Arts, Screen Australia, Multicultural Arts Victoria and Inner West Council. In addition, we run community-based events for women that foster self-expression, development, education and agency through our Series—Your Crown, Your Style, Your Story , Money and Me and Boss Babe . And we supplement these with Live interviews of people we admire from different walks of life, through our 2SS conversations Instagram series.

AMARACHI OKOROM COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR

Amarachi Okorom is an Igbo Nigerian-born actor, spoken word poet and playwright, who grew up in Auckland and is now based in Naarm/Melbourne. Amarachi joined Western Edge in 2017, performing in Caliban as part of the Edge Ensemble. Recent acting credits include This (RISING), Burning Love (Playlist Live), The Human Voice , A Disorganised Zoom Reading of Contagion , the audio play Watching (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre), Seers (Playlist Live), The Watching with Western Edge, and Future Echoes: Edge Ensemble at Arts Centre Melbourne. She also appeared on ABC Melbourne as part of the Homespun storytelling gala. As a critically acclaimed emerging playwright, Amarachi was shortlisted for the 2021 Griffin Award. In 2021, she was selected for Melbourne Theatre Company’s First Stage program, Australian Theatre for Young People’s National Studio program, and Malthouse Theatre’s Besen Writers Group. She is currently a participating writer in Theatre Works’ She Writes Collective.

Cast & Creatives

SISTA ZAI ZANDA MELBOURNE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY DESIGN

Sista Zai Zanda (Sista Zai/Achihera/Yavo) is a Black African Settler of Karanga descent. Achihera lives on unceded Kulin Nations in Naarm and is researching Afrofuturisms. A PhD student at the University Of Melbourne, Sista Zai is the recipient of the competitive Melbourne Strategic Scholarship.

Amongst career highlights, Sista Zai co-produced sold out events of the iconic Afro-literary Pan African Poets Cafe at Arts Centre Melbourne and AfroHub and toured the Pan African Poets Cafe interstate in partnership with Hot Brown Honey. Recently, Sista Zai has been published by Australian Poetry in Best Of Australian Poetry 2022. Achihera also writes for the well-being app Hey Lemonade and regularly reviews books and writes features for the Big Issue Australia

Additional Creatives

LEILA ENRIGHT PRODUCER

Leila is a creative producer with a strong commitment to new writing. She is the Creative Producer of Green Door Theatre Company, which develops the works—Orange Thrower that is now in the Griffin 2021 season and Lady Tabouli that was in the 2020 Sydney Festival. She produces award winning theatre If We Got Some More Cocaine I Could Show You How I Love You by John O’Donovan, Lady Tabouli and Omar and Dawn both by James Elazzi, How Dare You by Kate Chalmers and Good Dog by Arinzé Kene. She is currently the Senior Producer at Griffin Theatre Company. Previously she has produced the 2018 National Play Festival, was the Associate Producer at Playwriting Australia, was the producer at Q Theatre and Producer and Head of New Writing at Darlinghurst Theatre Company.

Leila has a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Literature and History, a Certificate in Classics from London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and a Diploma in Community Arts and Cultural Development. Leila is a 2020 Churchill Fellow.

TENIOLA KOMOLAFE CAMPAIGN IMAGE

A portrait and stills photographer based in Sydney. Teniola Komolafe was born in Nigeria, raised on both the east and west coasts of America and now calls Australia home.

She has worked with amazing productions, creative teams and wonderful people such as Vogue Australia, Google, Time Out Sydney, Ensemble Theatre, and Generation Women Australia.

Malthouse Theatre makes contemporary Australian theatre in a global context, establishing meaningful partner relationships with organisations that share our values. For partnership enquiries, please call our Development team on (03) 9685 5162 or by emailing development@malthousetheatre.com.au.