Shakespeare Aliens

Oh, for a muse of firepower

That would rise to the brightest heavens of adaptation!

Shakespeare Aliens is the classic feminist science-fiction film on stage, remounted as if it was a history play written by William Shakespeare. A story of soldiers, war, dreams, nightmares, complex human machinations and two Queens facing off in the final duel, the James Cameron film feels like the Bard himself conceived it.

This is the bravado of Henry V and the royal intrigue of Hamlet with A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merchant of Venice thrown in for good measure.

The show is nine actors battling it out with detailed recreations of H.R. Giger’s classic monsters, along with an epic sound and lighting design that distils the essence of James Cameron’s bigger-than-Alien aesthetic and combines it with pure theatrical trickery.

Rob Lloyd (Who Me, The Mighty Little Puppet Show) is reuniting with Keith Gow (Sonnigsburg, Like A House on Fire) after their previous pop-culture venture, the romantic comedy Who Are You Supposed to Be (Melbourne Fringe 2014, Adelaide Fringe 2015).

Rob’s extensive work with his impro/puppet company The Mighty Littles, mashed up with Keith’s love of classic Shakespearean drama has pushed both of them to make their biggest work to date.
We are also working with award-winning puppet maker Donna Prince who is designing the alien, face-hugger and chest-burster puppets.

William Shakespeare wrote the pop culture of his day and Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley is an iconic hero of the modern day. Ripley may not be the lone female action star in 2021, but she is the long-reigning queen of this genre and now is the perfect time to revisit this character and this saga of motherhood and big f*cking guns. We get a new Hamlet every other year; now it’s time for another Ripley.