How The Gender-Bending Feral Fable Makes A Rumble In The Jungle

There has long been a cultural fascination with the feral child. Typically raised by animals far away from human influence, these untamed creatures emerge from the wilderness into civilisation. Now Melbourne's queer independent theatre company, Sisters Grimm – the creative partnership of Ash Flanders and Declan Greene – is putting a fresh twist on the folklore with its 'avant-comedy' Lilith: The Jungle Girl for the Melbourne Theatre Company's NEON NEXT program.

Lilith (Flanders, in drag) is a wild girl seized by Dutch imperialists in Borneo's rainforest, mid-19th century. She is transported to Holland to be acculturated (and studied) by scientist Charles Penworth (Candy Bowers), causing a sensation. But, in Amsterdam, Lilith questions who is actually noble and who savage. Flanders co-wrote this post-colonial reverse-Pygmalion (better known as My Fair Lady) with Greene, who directs.

"When you pop an alien figure into any narrative, that figure becomes the lens through which you view the hypocrisies of society at large."

Flanders is fascinated by the 'feral child' oeuvre. "The reason we love these stories is because they provide a really clear allegory for how society is doing," he explains, during a break from rehearsals. "I think that, when you pop an alien figure into any narrative, that figure becomes the lens through which you view the hypocrisies of society at large. I think everyone feels like an outsider, or they feel 'othered' in some way, and so we all enjoy seeing this person point out the flaws within our own world."

Lilith assumes an intersectional approach to exploring "difference" - racial, sexual, gender - with the titular character ultimately a cypher. "At the core of these types of narratives is an assimilationist message," Flanders says. "And so often in iterations of this you see that it is 'good' to have changed this person to fit in with the rest of the world that you've set up in the text - but we're questioning that, obviously." The casting of this production has "deliberate anachronisms", with Bowers – an African-Australian – playing the stereotypically white, cis male, scholar-cum-custodian.

Flanders, who studied drama in Ballarat, started Sisters Grimm with Greene in 2006. They initially performed DIY-style in pop-up venues, including lounge rooms. Their aim was to make youthful, disruptive theatre, defying conventions by simultaneously subverting the canon and referencing pop culture. While Sisters Grimm does tackle big socio-political themes, their productions are irrepressibly fun and OTT; a style of transgressive comedy that Flanders describes as "stupid/smart". In 2013 they presented The Sovereign Wife in tandem with NEON. Among their other acclaimed works are Calpurnia Descending (co-starring Paul Capsis) and an audacious staging of Verdi's opera La Traviata at Sydney's Belvoir St Theatre.

The Herald Sun has called Flanders "one of the 'It-boys' of camp theatre". While he is in demand as a solo performer, his main passion remains Sisters Grimm, although as the company's profile has grown, its unique brand of gender-bending theatre has been somewhat 'assimilated' into the mainstream. While this latest production is presented by a major company, Flanders believes it's a return to subversive form. "I think Lilith is just gonna be something really different for the MTC [Melbourne Theatre Company]," he laughs. "It's an exciting, dangerous project for the MTC to take on - and we're really trying to push it as far as we can!"