The Warehouse Residency Artists 2023-24

Meet roya the destroya and Jamila Main

The Warehouse Residency is Arts House’s main commissioning pathway for D/deaf and Disability-led projects presented at North Melbourne Town Hall.

Let us introduce you to our 2023-24 recipients. 

roya the destroya
The Birth and Death of a Physical Artist

It is often misinterpreted what the life of a professional artist must be like – who they are, what they do, how they live and create and make decisions. This project aims to dismantle stereotypes, to give an honest and raw insight into the diversity of lived experiences. The Birth and Death of a Physical Artist will take the audience on a journey through an artist’s life, using hip hop, physical theatre, and urban circus to explore creative trajectories and career evolutions through various stages of personal and professional development.”

roya the destroya is a strong believer that every day is an adventure. She is a passionate street performing artist who plays with her abilities to disrupt the stranger into a soulful and joyful exchange. Roya has performed in events and festivals around the world from busking in the Middle East, aerial dancing off the exterior of Art Centre Melbourne and performing at the White House.

Peter Sette Aka Bboy Sette has been a part of various theatre performances from musical theatre to urban circus. His versatility in singing, acting, beatboxing, dancing, acrobatics, physical theatre and breakdancing puts him in a niche and is hired to fullfill various roles. He has also worked with ‘Wild At Heart’; a vibrant creative community as a mentor, teacher and creative developer for shows over a number of years. Other highlights in theatre include, Queens of the outback, DQ4, Aussie Heat, The Australian premier of In the Heights, beat on pointe, 360 allstars urban circus, which toured globally.

Jamila Main
Pillow Talk

Pillow Talk is candid, intimate truth sharing as lead artist Jamila Main reveals the intense pain caused by multiple disabling chronic illnesses amidst sapphic love stories. Bed as a site, a stage, a workplace, informs the working methodology and presentation of ‘Pillow Talk’. In the world of ‘Pillow Talk’, the bed is the island from which we live, make art, and love. Radical depictions of disabled people as sexual, romantic, and sexy spring from the same bed as anal suppositories are inserted, vaginal blood is spilt, and deep heat creams are massaged in. With this development, the team will transform Jamila’s fully sick poetry from the previous development into an immersive, tender live performance that incorporates 3D digital art, live camera feeds, pre-recorded footage, embedded access features, and URL presentations of live works. 

Jamila Main is an actor and writer who makes candid, tender work infused with the survivalist humour of living in a queer, trans, disabled, chronically ill body in chronic pain. Jamila has been writing and performing for the stage, screen, and livestream since 2016, and has worked with Sydney Theatre Company, Adelaide Festival, Malthouse Theatre Company, Darlinghurst Theatre Company, Adelaide Cabaret Festival, State Theatre Company of South Australia, Vitalstatistix, Midsumma Festival, and Carclew. Jamila was a writer for Peps Talks (Hey Lemonade) alongside nationally acclaimed writers such as Benjamin Law and Virginia Gay. During Lockdown, Jamila was a commissioned writer for the Ruby award-winning Decameron 2.0 (STCSA and ActNow Theatre). Jamila’s play Butterfly Kicks was a finalist in the Queer Playwriting Awards (Midsumma Festival, 2020) and winner of the Queer Short Story Award (Feast Festival, Writers SA, 2018); winning again in 2019 for Queer Utopia is on the Roof of a Westfield.