Love Unheard

18/07/2025

Telling my kids this was taken at a Coldplay concert.

06/07/2025

Happy 50th Anniversary NAIDOC Week ❤️💛🖤

https://thorneharbour.org/news-events/news/5-ways-for-queer-people-to-recognise-naidoc-week/

21/06/2025

🎟️ BOOK NOW for CASTRATI

JUNE 27-28 | VICTORIAN PRIDE CENTRE | LINK IN BIO

Behind the magic: witness the creative process that brings CASTRATI to life.

From intimate directorial conversations to full team rehearsals, these behind-the-scenes glimpses reveal the meticulous artistry and passionate dedication driving Melbourne's most anticipated show.

This isn't just a performance—it's a carefully constructed dialogue between past and present, where every gesture, every lighting cue, and every vocal moment serves the larger story of transformation and reclaimed voice.

See the collaborative genius that transforms historical tragedy into contemporary triumph. Two nights only at the Victorian Pride Centre.

Experience the full result of this creative collaboration—where technical precision meets emotional authenticity to create something truly revolutionary.

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20/06/2025

Hi friends in Melbourne, Please come and see my amazing cousin Kit perform in a show that we are producing together. Victorian Pride Centre Friday June 27th at 6pm or Saturday June 28th at 2pm. Free drink on arrival!!!

https://pridecentre.org.au/event/castrati/2025-06-27/

A small group of musicians, music teachers, students, and friends who now put on concerts together and play about love, loud and proud.

17/06/2025

🎟️ BOOK NOW for CASTRATI — Victorian Pride Centre, June 27 (6–7 PM) & June 28 (2–3 PM | 9–10 PM AEST). Limited seats available. Experience the haunting legacy of the castrato. Link in bio!

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Before celebrity meant flashing lights and magazine covers, it looked like Farinelli’s velvet robes.
Like Pacchierotti’s name whispered across Europe.
Like ten boys who were chosen to be more than human—at the cost of ever becoming men..

From Farinelli to Tenducci, the castrati weren’t just singers.
They were the sound of an empire: unearthly, ethereal, and engineered.

This gallery of framed portraits isn’t just a visual feast—it’s a record of those who made it.
But for every legend framed in gold, there stood thousands of silent boys whose names, bodies, and futures were never remembered.

By the 1750s, castrati made up nearly 70% of all Italian opera singers.
What was once a sacred art was also a societal machine—manufacturing glory from the sacrifice of childhood, autonomy, and identity.

CASTRATI resurrects this history through haunting visuals and live performance—asking not just who they were, but who we’re still asking to change themselves to be heard today.

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16/06/2025

The practice that turned 8-year-old boys into operatic legends.

The castrati developed elongated limbs, enlarged rib cages, and psychological complications that lasted lifetimes—all for voices that might never achieve greatness.

Tickets available now for CASTRATI at the Victorian Pride Centre, June 27-28. Witness Kit Spencer's powerful examination of bodily autonomy and artistic exploitation.

Senesino and Gaetano Berenstadt, depicted in this period caricature, became legendary despite their manufactured differences. Their otherworldly sounds came at the cost of natural development, creating performers who were simultaneously celebrated and ostracised.

Boys as young as eight underwent irreversible surgery with no guarantee of success. Their sacrifice fed society's appetite for the impossible—voices that existed nowhere else in nature.

What voices are we still demanding people alter to be heard? What bodies are we still asking to conform?

CASTRATI doesn't just resurrect forgotten history—it questions the power structures that continue shaping who gets to speak and how.

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13/06/2025

Inside the Director's Vision: Sheanna on CASTRATI ✨

In this intimate interview, Sheanna Russon opens up about her directorial approach and what drew her to Kit Spencer's groundbreaking performance.

Discover how Sheanna views directing as both anchor and guide—creating safe spaces for artists while ensuring the audience's journey remains clear. She also shares her unique two-phase process: the dreaming stage where scenes are discussed and conceptualised, followed by the nuts and bolts work of bringing that magic to life.

Hear directly from Sheanna about what captivated her most about CASTRATI's script—how it transforms abstracted historical figures into real, complex human beings.

Experience this thoughtful collaboration between director and performer at the Victorian Pride Centre, June 27-28. Tickets available now! Follow .russon to see more of her work!

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11/06/2025

The Director Bringing CASTRATI to Life 🎭✨

Introducing Sheanna Russon (she/her), the visionary director guiding Kit Spencer’s groundbreaking performance from concept to stage.

With a decade of theatre-making experience rooted in collaborative devised work, Sheanna brings a unique perspective to storytelling that centres on trans voices. As a founding member of the Trans Theatre Collective, she explored how to “decentralise the cis gaze from trans storytelling”—a philosophy she carries into every aspect of CASTRATI.

“I think it’s important to have trans-centred but also trans-led stories,” Sheanna explains. “When we are able to step into the narrative and craft the narrative rather than outsiders telling the story about us—the complexity and authenticity is good.”

What draws her to CASTRATI is its power to humanise what history has abstracted. “What I love about this script is that it takes this idea that we grow up with that is abstracted and dehumanised and really fills in the gaps,” she reflects. “They were real people.”

Her directorial vision transforms CASTRATI from mere performance into profound dialogue between past and present, creating what she calls a space where audiences feel “intrigued but challenged at times” yet ultimately safe to engage with complex histories and contemporary truths.

For Sheanna, directing means being the anchor that allows artists to explore the complexities of their craft while ensuring the audience’s journey remains clear and emotionally resonant.

Experience this collaboration between director and performer at the Victorian Pride Centre, June 27-28. Tickets are available now! Follow .russon to see more of her work!

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