Ren Lunicke returns to Perth Fringe 2018 with a new show; Blood Relative, an autobiographical dramatic retelling involving tales of biological and chosen family, fertility and identity.
(*Please Note: Ren uses they/them pronouns in present tense, and she/her pronouns when referring to their past self, Michelle.)
As a queer person, I was instantly intrigued by the idea of a show that explores the concept of family. For a lot of queer people, family encompasses many more than those related by blood, as we are faced with a mix of acceptance, tolerance and rejection with every retelling of our identities. However, to say this performance is only for queer people would be doing it an injustice. We all have varied experiences and ideas about what family means to us, and Blood Relative truly explores this in a journey toward building meaningful connection with others.
The performance takes place amid conversations between three generations; Michelle, her evangelical mother, and her sick grandmother. Constantly disappointed by expectations from biological bonds, Michelle struggles with the idea of what makes a ‘happy family’ in the months leading up to her grandmothers passing. At the same time, she struggles with society’s expectation to have biological children, exploring whether having a child is something she really wants in her quest to define family.
Ren’s powerful and insightful one person performance examines the power and possibility to redefine and remake ‘family’ for oneself. It also poses the important point; when it comes to chosen and biological family, it doesn’t have to be a choice between one or the other, it can be both. This is a must see for anyone who has ever felt like they don’t belong.
To book tickets to see Ren’s powerful performance in their new show Blood Relative click here.
You can also book tickets to see Ren’s other shows: “Ze”: queer as f*ck!; an exploration of queer identity and community, and I’m an Apache Attack helicopter; a sharing of experiences and observations in gender, sex, politics and more.
This review originally featured on TheQueerAV.com and has been republished with permission.
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