WHAT IS IT?

The Supreme Gentleman is the third play written by Sean Maroney. It is presented by Sexually Transmitted Politics theatre company, and is part of Sydney Fringe Festival 2019.

The Supreme Gentleman is a story of humanity, violence, and responsibility. It’s a narrative of supreme imperfection, social justice, and violence. It’s about Chads, Staceys, Feminists and Incels.

Jen, Ingrid, and Francis have been commissioned to write a speech that highlights the extreme of gendered violence. This is manifest in an Incel character. Incels are an online subculture bound together by nihilistic thoughts, extreme misogyny, and keyboard-driven hate. They relish all kind of minority-directed violence: misogyny, homophobia, racism, etc. They are a particular brand of hate that have flourished with the combination of the internet, patriarchal entitlement, and growing isolation endemic to the 21st century. Incels have radicalised on multiple occasions and are responsible for the deaths of 44 people. Two of the Incel-terrorists commit suicide before their capture.

Bradley, the Incel that the writing group is creating, is an inheritor of extreme hate and violence. What ethical problems must be navigated to put him on stage? To give him a voice? To what extent is he a caricature of the most radical Incels, plagued with mental illness, and subjected by circumstance to utter loneliness? The only thing that’s certain is that he’s human. What violence is present in ignoring his humanity, and what violences are within the writers that they refuse to admit?

When Bradley appears as a person in the writing room, the writers must confront their prejudices, their responsibilities to Bradley, and the dangers that begin to gnaw through the surface of their interactions.

The Supreme Gentleman presents a battlefield of woke-ness, where violence is plural, ambiguity reigns, and humanity manifests as a worm-eaten mess.

CREATIVES:

Director: Sean Maroney

Assistant Director: Julia Christensen

Actors:

Jess Bush

Jake Fryer-Hornsby

Nathan Wilson

WHAT WILL THE FUNDS GO TOWARD?

Independent theatre is expensive. Costs for the show include:

Registration to Sydney Fringe

Hire of Performance Space

Hire of Rehearsal Space

Front of House Staff

Lighting and Sound Operator 

Set

Costumes

Props

Printed Scripts

Public Liability Insurance

That takes it to about $4,500 before any creative sees a piece of the pie. Thankfully we have a lot of in-kind support, so extra costs are projected at $2,500.

The money raised will cover costs and then look to pay the creatives a nominal fee for their numerous hours and generosity, which should be a minimum for any project (though we don't live in a Utopia, so we need your help!)