Dirty Pennies Theatre Project is teaming with the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre to premiere award-winning writer Amy May Nunn’s new ‘genre-bending’ play, Menace Ridge, from February 1-5 as part of their inaugural Midsumma season.
Using storytelling and original sound design, Menace Ridge examines the camping misadventure tale through a queer lens.
Young couple Tess and Maud are off on a camping weekend for some much-needed respite from their busy lives. But with a rogue animal on the loose, ominous weather warnings and a strange man hanging around their campsite, what begins as an idyllic couple getaway quickly descends into the trip from hell.
Menace Ridge is a one-act thriller-comedy, exploring the threats constantly pushing in on womxn and queer people when we venture outside of our safe zones and into the unknown.
Nunn believes that charming images of couples in matching Kathmandu jackets smiling triumphantly on a hike are deeply linked to the general idea of a fulfilling and adventurous life. But for queer couples partaking in these rites of passage, “the experience can be vastly different from the heteronormative narrative we’re often sold.”
Writer and Director Amy May Nunn; Producer Danielle Goder; Sound Designer and Composer Kevan Atkins; With Danielle Goder and Amy May Nunn
More information on the company can be found at www.dirtypenniestheatreproject.com
Performance Dates: February 1 – 5
Venue: Queen Victoria Women’s Centre, 210 Lonsdale St, Melbourne
Tickets: $30/$25
Bookings: https://midsumma- premier.eventfinda.com.au/2022/menace- ridge/melbourne/tickets

• Cheryl Threadgold