King's Choice

King's Choice (in-development) is a new performance and sound work exploring the intersections of Anglo‑Australian heritage, gender identity and power by reimagining Machiavelli’s The Prince through a gender‑nonconforming lens. The project interrogates what constitutes “good” and “bad” leadership, contrasting Machiavellian ideals of masculine authority with queer, feminist and egalitarian approaches grounded in collaboration, fluidity and vulnerability, while drawing from archetypal ideologies depicted in the text: “The Prince”, “The Beast” and “Fortuna”. The work examines the duality of fairytale and violence embedded in cultural ideas of monarchy, questioning how these narratives shape our understanding of hierarchy, morality and legitimacy. Through merging personal context with institutional critique, the work considers how queer ways of being might disrupt or redesign hierarchical structures. Long‑term, King’s Choice aims to collectively dismantle and reimagine “the monarchy” through forms of performance, storytelling, sound art and participation, opening space for alternative forms of strength, self‑determination and empowerment.

King's Choice was initially developed as part of ADHOCRACY 2023, Vitalstatistix’s national hothouse for experimental art and contemporary performance.

CREATIVE TEAM | DEVELOPMENT
Lead artist, writer, performer music producer, sound designer: Rebecca Riggs-Bennett
Director, performer and collaborator: Daley Rangi
Movement director, performer and collaborator: Sarah Chaffey
Documentation: Jennifer Greer Holmes