Pink Matter challenges female sexuality in unconventional Fringe theatre show

Feminist theatre show Pink Matter dissects the colour pink and what it means for queer and female sexuality. Find out what this Fringe show has in store for audiences.

Creatives Diane Pereira, Gretel Sharp and Holly Lambert during rehearsals for Pink Matter. Picture: Paldeep Singh

A new show is exploring the feminist experience of the colour pink.

Developed by a close knit group of writers, choreographers and musicians for Melbourne Fringe, Pink Matter aims to explore what the colour means to a diverse group of woman.

Director Beth Raywood-Cross, who grew up in Ivanhoe, said she made the show to redefine people’s conception of pink.

“We wanted it to be a reflection of female and queer experiences which are often romantic, violent and messy,” Raywood-Cross said.

Laura Aldous, Diane Pereira, Beth Raywood-Cross and Gretel Sharp work on Pink Matter. Picture: David Crosling

“When you mention the colour pink, everyone has a response and connects it back to something, whether it’s Barbies, raspberry Cruisers or sexuality.”

The radical show incorporates live music, dance and physical storytelling, and guitarist and singer, Tess McCullough called aspects of it, “wack”.

“The music supports the story and audiences will hear sweet and atmospheric sounds to grunge and gritty intense music,” Ms McCullough said.

The title of the show not only references Frank Ocean’s song of the same name but Raywood-Cross said it encapsulates female sexuality.

“It connects back to the idea of being inherently connected to flesh and the folds of our skin, you cant disconnect the colour pink from the human body, we’re all pink on the inside,” she said.

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Playwright Stella Webster said the colour pink had a strong connection to women and queerness.

“We want to subtract the idea that pink is a soft prissy colour, everyone has pink in them, it’s not just to signify that you aren’t a boy.”

Pink Matter is on at Dancehouse Carlton from September 25 to 28 as part of Melbourne Fringe.

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