I MET AN ANGEL NAMED JACQUES Comes to Footscray Community Arts
Performances run 1 to 4 October 2025.
Running for four performances only this October, I Met An Angel Named Jacques is the latest work by multidisciplinary artist Gideon D. Wilonja. Shining a light on the queer sentimentalities and experiences felt in the African diaspora, this electric debut season is one of only three recipients of the Jewel Box Commission - created by Foostcray Community Arts with the aim of supporting and raising the profile of early career Black, Indigenous, and PoC artists.
I Met An Angel Named Jacques introduces us to L'or - a celebrated artist whose work is bold, unrelenting, and impossible to ignore. He's at the top of his game, all eyes are on him; under the public gaze he has it all together. But with fame comes scrutiny and there's no room for mistakes. Enter Jacques, an ambitious cultural critic with a sharp tongue, and a mind that cuts through the noise.
A poetic, bruising dive into the ways we love, I Met An Angel Named Jacques is a tale about the ache for validation, facing your demons, and the dangerous comfort of familiar pain. Exploring the incessant human need for acceptance and the lengths we go to find it; it's an electric love story that hates romance.
“The catalyst for creating I Met An Angel Named Jacques was my obsession with relationships that are both magnetic and destructive”, explains writer Gideon D. Wilonja.
“I was interested in how love, ambition, and ego collide, especially in queer Black lives where identity and desire are always under some kind of scrutiny. Like many cultures around the world (and in so-called Australia) that have been uprooted and subjected to colonialism, homophobia and transphobia have been used as tools to discredit existing spiritual and cultural systems. This has created deep disconnection, ridicule, and persecution of many queer individuals.
I Met An Angel Named Jacques doesn't sit neatly in one genre or tradition; it bends between realism, poetry, and surreal intensity. The world is recognisable, but also heightened, almost dreamlike, because that's how grief and desire feel when you're living them. Audiences can expect something that feels both intimate and volatile.”
Featuring a remarkable team of cast and creatives, lauded actor Ras Samuel (Kingdom of the Planet of The Apes, The Clearing) and Gideon D. Wilonja star and spar in the lead roles of this premiere production. Joining them on stage, Ben Chisholm, Sasha Hannequin, and Atinuke Abraham complete the exceptional ensemble brought together to bring this story to life.
Built from the ground up with local voices, this compelling new work by Gideon D. Wilonja promises to be a highlight on the Melbourne Arts Calendar - not to be missed.
Footscray Community Arts is a nationally and internationally recognised arts precinct grounded in Melbourne's West. For 50 years, Footscray Community Arts has cultivated a reputation for excellence in nurturing, creating and presenting contemporary arts in collaboration with our communities of focus: First Nations, culturally and linguistically diverse, LGBTIQA+ and artists with disability.
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