TRANSforming the Stage

From Broadway to Boston, new works are transformingtransgender representation in theatre.

By Kimberly Alleyna Koplow

Coloring the stage with artistry and powerful expression, the dynamic young thespians of The Theatre Offensive's True Colors troupe educate and entertain at one of their community performances.

Credit: Ivy Maiorino

If you’ve seen a play or musical recently, you know the contemporary stage has become a haven for work that is pushing the envelope with entertaining, truth-seeking, reality-heightening material. Today’s theatrical works extend beyond the social norms of yesterday, expressing the diversity of our ever-changing world, including the hardships and challenges we face in a technology-driven, optionfilled, over stimulated, sexually saturated, materialistic, faster-thanfast-paced culture. So, how do playwrights translate the important issues and nuances of today’s complex world, bring them to life on stage, raise awareness, and effect social change?

Today’s playwrights are creating works that are more honest, humanistic, and thought-provoking than ever, especially when it comes to portraying the LGBT community on stage. Gracing the Broadway stage are hits such as the Tony Award-winning Hedwig and the Angry Inch, John Cameron Mitchell’s musical about a fictional rock and roll band fronted by an East German transgender singer, and the popular musical Kinky Boots, written by Harvey Fierstein with music and lyrics composed by long-time LGBT activist and pop singer Cyndi Lauper. Kinky Boots examines the unlikely friendship that forms between Charlie Price and drag queen/cabaret performer Lola, as they join forces to develop a line of high-heeled boots to save the dying shoe factory that Charlie inherits from his father. Beyond these enormous commercial successes, more and more theatrical works with transgender roles and LGBT representation are emerging around the country. Boston is no exception. From community and experiential theatre, to the early development of touring and Off-Broadway plays and musicals, Boston’s theatre scene is alive with diversity.

The rainbow of work that colors the innovative theatrical scene in the Bay State expands from original LGBT plays emerging out of the theatrical programs at the Five College consortium in Western Mass to the ever-funny and fabulously entertaining drag queen reviews in Provincetown. At the forefront, and pioneering the Boston LGBT theatre community is The Theater Offensive (TTO), a nonprofit organization, whose mission is “to present the diversity of LGBT lives in art so bold it breaks through personal isolation, challenges the status quo, and builds thriving communities”. One of TTO’s performance troupes, True Colors: Out Youth Theater, has had an overwhelming impact on helping youth and teenagers become aware of and understand the issues that trans people face, including transphobia, discrimination, assault, and even suicide. The troupe is so impactful that surveys reveal approximately 85 percent or more of the audience feels they can make more supportive choices toward the LGBT community after viewing a True Colors show. TTO has witnessed first-hand how open and receptive youth and teenage students are toward the material and proudly boasts that 200-300 students each year make the transition from acting as bullies to adapting a “stand up to bullying mentality” after viewing these performances. That’s an astounding number of lives impacted in a positive way, as a result of this organization’s phenomenal work in the community.

A new film debuting in Spring 2015, The Year We Thought About Love, featuring TTO’s True Colors troupe, is a 68-minute documentary by filmmaker Ellen Brodsky that celebrates this diverse troupe of LGBTQ youth. The film documents how the troupe members transform their personal struggles into theatre for social change. One of the notable central characters in the film and an important member of True Colors since she was a teenager is Alesandra, a young adult trans woman of color.

Alesandra of The Theater Offensive’s True Colors Troupe. Credit: Joel Benjamin

Abe Rybeck, TTO’s Founder and Executive Artistic Director, commented, “It is so important to have the full variety of transgender experiences expressed on stage… To have a public voice is crucial.” TTO has been exhibiting work with transgender characters since the late 1980s. In the early 90s, TTO empowered its first works by trans artists, like gender non-conforming playwright and performance artist Kate Bornstein. Recent works showcased in partnership with TTO, include Sean Dorsey Dance Company’s The Secret History of Love, combining modern dance, music, theatre, and media to tell the story of the underground ways LGBT people managed to survive and find love in decades past, despite tremendous obstacles. An upcoming work by Sean Dorsey Dance Company, entitled The Missing Generation, a dance theatre piece exploring the contemporary impact of the loss of part of an entire generation of gay and transgender people to AIDS in the 1980s and 90s, will showcase in Boston in October.

The way in which transgender roles are portrayed on stage and screen has become a hot topic in our culture. Much controversy exists: Is the role stereotypical or demeaning? Does the script paint a picture of the real struggles that trans people face? Is the playwright coming from a skewed cisgender viewpoint? When it comes to works about fictional characters, how true are the trans voices?

Rybeck feels passionately that the theatrical community needs to step up so that trans voices are heard on stage. It certainly seems as though TTO is stepping up and has been for many years. We applaud them for providing an amazing outlet for LGBT voices to be heard in such an eye-opening, creative, and beautifully artistic way.

The way in which transgender roles are portrayed on stage and screen has become a hot topic in our culture. Much controversy exists: Is the role stereotypical or demeaning? Does the script paint a picture of the real struggles that trans people face? Is the playwright coming from a skewed cisgender viewpoint? When it comes to works about fictional characters, how true are the trans voices?

As a fellow playwright, producer, and human rights supporter, I take these questions seriously. My newest work is a disco era jukebox musical featuring African American and transgender/drag characters. You might ask how my experience as a heterosexual Caucasian Jewish female qualifies me to paint a cast of characters so colorful. My answer would contain two words: divine inspiration. As a writer, I don’t always know why ideas are put into my head or inspiration placed in my heart. I certainly did not set out to create some grandiose work about the plight of transgender people, nor did I strive to make a statement that would gain favorable attention and praise from the LGBT community. I simply created a story about the journey to selflove, and I let the characters flow in, in whatever colors, shapes, sizes, and voices they needed to be to mold the central themes of the play. What I ended up with is a beautiful and magical story about the transformation we experience when we free ourselves from the judgment and expectations of others, connect with our inner spirits, and open up to the unlikely yet magical friendships that help guide us and illuminate our journeys. The diversity of the characters surprised even me, but it also caused me to open my eyes, to educate myself, to become more compassionate and empathetic, and to dig deeper to understand why these important supporting characters showed up as six transgender/drag prostitutes and what my responsibility is in showcasing these roles. After all, it is stereotypical to create trans characters that fit roles of prostitutes and criminals, as so many plays, televisions shows, and movies so ignorantly do. I am, however, confident that my characters defy these stereotypes and reflect the expressive individualism that emerged from the 1970s gay liberation movement. They each embody the femininity, emotionality, strength, courage, self-love, and comfort within one’s own skin that the protagonist lacks in her life. Ultimately, they provide her with the support she needs to conquer heartache, find her true voice, and become the star of her own life, and they enhance the heartfelt story line with tremendous vibrancy, sentiment, and hilarity.

From turning True experiences into theatrical performances for social change to creating fictional works that defy LGBT stereotypes and convey beauty in personal expression and individualism, the theatrical community from Broadway to Boston, is Act by Act, TRANSforming the stage.

Kimberly Alleyna Koplow has worked extensively as an actress, writer, producer, director, and choreographer. She founded a successful Detroit-based marketing, PR, and advertising agency that catered to clients in the fashion, arts, and entertainment industries. In 2013, Koplow formed KIALKO Productions and is currently developing several new musical theatre productions in Boston/Provincetown and NYC. For updates on workshops, readings, and performances, follow her on Twitter @KIALKO.