BROWSE MIKKI’S PRESS
Willamette Week
Naomi A. Jackson, Kyran McCoy, Juliet Mylan and Harper York in The Queers. Photo by Greg Parkinson.
“‘Mikki Gillette is one of Portland’s most revolutionary playwrights.”
“Gillette knew almost immediately that Nikki’s story was one she wanted to tell onstage, but it was a priority for her to strike the right balance and to show the full complexity of Nikki’s life.”
American Theatre
Lisa Kuhnhausen-Woods and I holding a photo of Nikki Kuhnhausen (right to left), photo by Blair Stenvick
Willamette Week
MaryEllen Wood as Corin and Hazel O’Brien as Mia in Mimetic Desire. Photo by Heath Hyun Houghton
“The delicate way Gillette builds Mia and Corin’s relationship over the first and second acts is a low-key master class”
“(Gillette's plays) have a lived-in, lived-through quality, whether it’s expressed in built tension or sharp, playful banter.”
Portland Mercury
Billie Jane Dawson as Tara and Marina Benedetti as Murph in Tears and Glitter. Photo by Heath Hyun Houghton
Oregon Arts Watch
Jody Read, Marina Benedetti, Billie Jane Dawson, Juliet Mylan and Thorn Hartspring in Tears and Glitter. Photo by Heath Hyun Houghton.
“(Gillette) brings authentic truth to what it is to be in the community today. Her dialogue is so real and so honest”
“The plays of ‘Glitter and Desire’ feature eleven trans actors in trans roles.”
KBOO Radio
Lennox Blodgett, MaryEllen Wood, Hazel O’Brien, Tea Johnson and Cosmo Reynolds in Mimetic Desire. Photo by Heath Hyun Houghton.
Oregon Arts Watch
Jody Read as Belinda and Ethan Fieder as Desiree in No More Candy. Photo by Greg Parkinson.
“Gillette has blazed her own path over the past decade or so, creating a veritable canon of plays that explore the spectrum of what it means to exist as a trans person in the 21st century.”
“Gillette’s knack for writing relatable, realistic and complex queer and trans characters is on full display.”
Willamette Week
Ethan Fieder as Desiree and Jody Read as Belinda in No More Candy. Photo by Greg Parkinson
Oregon Arts Watch
Jody Read as Belinda in No More Candy. Photo by Greg Parkinson.
“Mikki is a bold playwright who creates these richly observed ensemble pieces that refuse to romanticize anyone while holding a real tenderness and care for everyone.”
“(Gillette’s) growing a solid audience of fans who appreciate not only her talent, but her dedication to telling stories of queer and trans peoples' lives.”
Portland Mercury
Ethan Fieder as Desiree in No More Candy. Photo by Greg Parkinson
Portland Mercury
Ruby Welch as Candy Darling and Riley McCarthy as Jackie Curtis in Blonde on a Bum Trip. Photo by Greg Parkinson.
“It’s a robust work of pop art history, authentically delusional comedy and tender realism.”
“Mikki Gillette’s play Blonde on a Bum Trip is the feature persentation in this year’s OUTwright Theatre Festival.”
KGW’s Hello, Rose City
Actress Ruby Welch and I with host Lacey Evans on Hello, Rose City.
“Gillette is a playwright on the rise - in and out of the queer theater world.”
Cosmo Reynolds aa a Reporter and Ruby Welch as Candy Darling in Blonde on a Bum Trip. Photo by Greg Parkinson.
“1970s New York art celebs are Playwright Mikki Gillette’s Marvel Universe”
Willamette Week
Ruby Welch as Candy Darling and Cosmo Reynolds as Andy Warhol in Blonde on a Bum Trip. Photo by Greg Parkinson.
Southeast Examiner
Ruby Welch as Candy Darling and Heath Hyun as Lenny in Blonde on a Bum Trip. Photo by Greg Parkinson
“Gillette is an award-winning trans woman playwright who was named one of Portland’s 25 most influential artists.”
“The play is a love letter to a piece of history that’s never been told in quite this way.”
KBOO’s Transpositive PDX
Heath Hyun as Joe and Juliet Mylan as Holly Woodlawn in Blonde on a Bum Trip. Photo by Greg Parkinson.
“Gillette’s firsthand experience enriches the play’s in-depth portrayal of what occurs in queer youth centers all over the country.”
Johnathan Billington as Faeris and Dante Tirado Morales as Jess in They Them Their. Photo by Greg Parkinson.
“Gillette has been on a tear of late, not just with sheer volume of output but reaching new artistic heights. (She) is in her moment.”
Oregon Arts Watch
Dante Tirado Morales as Jess in They Them Their. Photo by Greg Parkinson.
“The play dramatizes (Nikki’s) story in a way that doesn’t pull punches.”
Maia McCarthy as Lisa and Naomi A. Jackson as Nikki in American Girl. Photo by Greg Parkinson.
“The true strength of the production is the complexity of the family as written by Gillette.”
Portland Mercury
Peter Schuyler as Kane and Naomi A. Jackson as Nikki in American Girl. Photo by Greg Parkinson.
“Gillette’s ‘My Perfectly Valid Objections’ entertains with unflinching humor and honesty.”
“Gillette demonstrates a keen ear for dialogue and a naturalistic sense of humor that keeps the audience engaged.”
-Willamette Week
Willamette Week
Robert Wylie and Ruby Welch in My Perfectly Valid Objects. Photo by Heath Hyun.
KATU News
Naomi A. Jackson as Lisa and Kyran McKoy as Smith in The Queers. Photo by Greg Parkinson.
“(We were) looking at the new guard, looking at rising stars like Mikki Gillette, who is a great playwright.”
“I’m happy (Nikki Kuhnhausen’s) story is in your hands. If there’s anyone’s hands it should be in, it’s yours.” Brianna Wheeler
“You could feel the audience viscerally connecting to the play. It feels like the beginning of a revolution.”
Willamette Week
Cosmo Reynolds as Pim and Kyran McCoy as Smith (left to right), photo by Greg Parkinson
Portland Mercury
Juliet Mylan as Ally and Naomi A. Jackson as Lisa in The Queers. Photo by Greg Parkinson.
“With Gillette behind the lines, the dialogue on stage flies quickly and with disarming candor.”
“In her plays No More Candy, Mimetic Desire, American Girl, and a host of others, trans characters clash, cajole, seduce, push, rip, fight, and do whatever they need to do to create space for themselves to be the person they want to be.”
Oregon Arts Watch
Juliet Mylan as Ally and Naomi A. Jackson as Lisa in The Queers. Photo by Greg Parkinson.
Oregon Arts Watch
Naiya Amilcar as Stephanie. Photo by Greg Parkinson.
“There is perhaps no one more suited to telling Kuhnhausen’s story than Gillette, one of Portland’s most prolific playwrights.”
“ In the tradition of “Boys Don’t Cry” and “The Laramie Project,” Gillette’s play draws on immersive research into a heartbreakingly violent crime ”
The Southeast Examiner
Peter Schuyler as Kane and Jenny Tien as Lynn in American Girl. Photo by Greg Parkinson
“Gillette’s play ‘The Queers’ enjoyed a sold out run at Fuse Theatre Ensemble.”
“(Mikki’s) play ‘My Perfectly Valid Objections’ mines the anxieties of ‘dating while trans’ for comedy and laughs.”
Judy Nedry
Juliet Mylan as Ally, Harper York as Andrea and Naomi Reynolds as Lisa, photo by Krystina Wentz-Graff
