​Fraught Outfit
​Fraught Outfit is a Naarm/Melbourne based independent theatre company, launched in 2010 by Artistic Director Adena Jacobs.
The company was established in 2010 with its production of ELEKTRA, translated by Anne Carson. In 2012 Fraught Outfit premiered Ingmar Bergman’s PERSONA at Theatre Works, remounted by Malthouse and Belvoir the following year.
Fraught Outfit is best known for its acclaimed ‘Innocence Trilogy,’ a series of works created with ensembles of young performers for adult audiences. The trilogy included ON THE BODILY EDUCATION OF YOUNG GIRLS, inspired by Frank Wedekind’s 1903 novella, as part of MTC’s Neon: Festival of Independent Theatre (2013), THE BACCHAE, a co-production between St Martins and Fraught Outfit, presented by Melbourne Festival, St Martins and Theatre Works as part of MIAF (2015), and at Dark MOFO (2016) and BOOK OF EXODUS – PARTS I & II at Theatre Works (2017).
​Fraught Outfit’s current project is FLAMES DANCED IN THEIR HAIR BUT DID NOT BURN THEM, a multi-channel video work made in collaboration with the cast of 2015’s THE BACCHAE. Commissioned by Melbourne Fringe, and produced by Performing Lines, the work will premiere at Buxton Gallery in September 2024.
Adena Jacobs
Adena Jacobs is a theatre director and the Artistic Director of independent company Fraught Outfit (www.fraughtoutfit.com.au). Her distinct body of work incorporates queer and feminist renderings of mythic texts, hallucinatory landscapes and rich sound scores. In 2014-15 she was Resident Director at Belvoir, and in 2012 she was Female Director in Residence at Malthouse Theatre. In Australia, her work has been seen at Melbourne Festival, Carriageworks, Dark Mofo, Malthouse, Belvoir, Sydney Opera House, MTC, Theatre Works and La Mama. Internationally, she has directed for the English National Opera in London, and presented at Tokyo Festival. In 2022, her production of TROJAN WOMEN will premiere at the prestigious Burgtheater in Vienna. Adena’s work has been nominated for numerous Green Room, Sydney Theatre Award and FBI SMAC awards. Recently, her 2018 production of THE HOWLING GIRLS was named co-winner of the Music Theatre NOW as part of Operadagen Rotterdam and awarded Best Vocal/Choral Work by APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards.
