Previews: NO MORE CANDY at Salt And Sage

If you follow the Portland theatre scene, you’ve definitely encountered the work of Mikki Gillette. She has had five new plays produced in the past two years, including American Girl, which won Best Play in the 2023 BroadwayWorld Portland Awards, and she was named one of Portland’s most influential people in the arts by Willamette Week in 2022.

This week, Gillette’s new play NO MORE CANDY will premiere at Salt and Sage, directed by her frequent collaborator, Asae Dean. The play follows the story of college students Desiree and Belinda as they navigate the complexities of their budding relationship while confronting the shadows of past trauma. With its mix of queer romance, raw emotion, and punk rock spirit, NO MORE CANDY explores what it takes to love against a background of transphobia and sexual violence.

For Gillette, this play is deeply personal. She began writing it over a decade ago, during a period where she was processing her own experiences of transitioning in her early 30s and of being sexually assaulted.

"It’s a unique experience, transitioning as an adult, especially as a trans woman,” she explains. “You go from seeing the world through one lens to finally being yourself, only to realize how much society sucks because of its transphobia. Then I started talking to my female friends about sexual violence, and so many of them had stories like mine, and I wondered, why aren’t we talking about this?"

NO MORE CANDY is Gillette’s contribution to that conversation. It was first read as a short play in Fuse Theatre’s 2014 OUTWright Theatre Festival. During the pandemic, Gillette expanded it into a full-length piece with the help of local actor and theatre maker Bobby Bermea. That led to a workshop and now the world premiere.

While the play confronts painful realities head on, it’s also a love story. "Some people will see a reflection of their experience that they might not have seen before,” Gillette says. “It goes to some raw places and I hope that’s something people will be moved by. But also, I’m a romantic, so I hope the love story will touch people.”

NO MORE CANDY runs October 11-27 at 21Ten Theatre. The tickets are pay what you will with a suggested price of $25. Find more info and get your ticket here.