PERPETUAL AUTUMN
This multimedia solo performance piece explores how figures from my past have imprinted themselves on various parts of my body, and how all medical tests are simple, nothing-to-worry-about routine tests, until they aren't.
Excerpt:
"I had this idea that my gender dysphoria could be cured by love; that if I could just fall in love with a woman and be a man, all my feelings of being female would go away. And I did fall in love. The feelings stayed. She was the first person I came out to, in a day of happy coincidences. We went to the mall; on a whim, she asked me to try on some 'girl clothes.' Later that night, wrapped around her and crying with fear, I told her that I was transgender. Most couples don’t survive that transition. Her response was, 'well, in that case, you should know that I’m bisexual, so that really works for me!'
I would say that Em gave me this heart, but that doesn’t even begin to cover it."
Excerpt:
"I had this idea that my gender dysphoria could be cured by love; that if I could just fall in love with a woman and be a man, all my feelings of being female would go away. And I did fall in love. The feelings stayed. She was the first person I came out to, in a day of happy coincidences. We went to the mall; on a whim, she asked me to try on some 'girl clothes.' Later that night, wrapped around her and crying with fear, I told her that I was transgender. Most couples don’t survive that transition. Her response was, 'well, in that case, you should know that I’m bisexual, so that really works for me!'
I would say that Em gave me this heart, but that doesn’t even begin to cover it."
PRODUCTION HISTORY2012: Devised with guidance from Helen Paris.
2012: Performed as part of "Performance Making: Process." |
CHARACTERSLEANNA - A trans woman who is a composite of many people.
EMILY - A far-flung partner who receives an unexpected call. |
