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By Rebecca, December 14, 2011 12:54 pm

This weekend, I’m participating in a project called Re-Frame: A Gathering at Links Hall. Tickets are available here.  I’ll be one of the featured performers on Friday, 12/16, and a supporting artist on Saturday and Sunday. For those of you who can’t make it, here’s the current draft of what I’ll be performing.

OCCUPY WALL STREET

All enter, chanting, Rebecca leading call-and-response. Chants include:

• Tell me what democracy looks like / This is what democracy looks like
• The people united will never be defeated
• The whole world is watching

Everyone but Rebecca fades off to the sides

I’ve been following the Occupy Wall Street movement with some interest. I have friends who live in New York City who are pretty involved. I have friends in Chicago who are regularly across from the Federal Reserve Building at Jackson and LaSalle, as part of Occupy Chicago. And I love the concept of the Occupy movement: of grassroots democracy, of consensus building, of acknowledging the wealth and income disparities which have been growing in the United States for years. Continue reading 'Re-Frame: A Gathering'»

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By Rebecca, June 23, 2011 5:59 pm

Sue knows how it's done

A counterpoint to the good gender education posted earlier. Feedback is certainly welcome. This will be delivered as stereotypically ‘gym teacher’ as possible.

Listen up, everyone! The politicians in Washington think we aren’t doing a good enough job teaching you all what it means to be real women. Dunno if you’ve been following the news lately. The whole No Gender Left Behind Act nonsense has lotsa people up in arms, but it just seems good sense to me. Girls should be taught how to be ladies, and boys how to be gentlemen. That’s how it was when I was your age.

Like they always do, those same politicians decided your physical education curriculum would be the best place for this new knowledge. I’m no fancy man in a suite in Washington, but I think gym class should be about a good hustle. Be that as it may, this next week we’ll be having some ‘gender education’ lessons at the top of every class.

Who can tell me what it means to be a boy?

(Audience participation. The correct answer is ‘To have a penis.’ The audience is either right or wrong, but either way…)

Being a boy means you have a penis. That’s all there is to it.

Who can tell me what it means to be a girl?

(Repeat)

That’s right. Girls have vaginas.

And how do the people around you know if you’re a boy or a girl?

No, Susan, don’t go around showing boys your vagina. That means you’re a slut. People know you’re a boy if you act like a boy, dammit. They’ll know you’re a girl if you act like one.

Continue reading 'Evil Gender Education'»

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By Rebecca, August 18, 2010 12:27 pm

Two weeks from today will be opening night for Uncovering the Mirrors at the Chicago Fringe Festival. Please buy your tickets today or find it in your heart to donate!

As a teaser, here’s some text from my upcoming show:

The Land of Gender, part one

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By Rebecca, May 18, 2010 10:03 am

I’ll be performing this Friday at Queertopia at 8PM at Winston’s Cafe, 5001 N Clark, in Chicago. Tickets are $5 for students, $7 for everyone else, and the event is 21+. Below is the script I’m working on for the show.

Pantomime of a morning routine: Brushing teeth, washing face, plucking eyebrows, putting on foundation, eyeshadow, eyeliner, blush, lipstick. Clothing. Earrings. Then pantomime undoing everything, disrobing, and makeup wipes to remove everything (‘rinse and repeat’) and begin again.

While going through the routine the second (and subsequent) times: I’ve been in the hospital twice in as many months, after having stayed gloriously out of the hospital for years. Both times, I was admitted to the ER with severe abdominal pain, something that has been plaguing me every 6-8 weeks for the last year or so.  The pain usually went away after a few hours, so though I’d almost gone to the ER a number of times, I’d always felt better before actually making the trip.

The first time I went to the ER , in early April, I was admitted at about 3AM. My roommate drove me to Swedish Covenant, on Foster, and they quickly admitted me – the waiting room was pretty empty. I stress about going to the hospital for all the usual reasons, but also because I’m trans: Any nurse or doctor or administrator could make my life very difficult because what’s between my legs doesn’t match most people’s concept of what “should” be there.

Within the first 30 minutes of my visit, I’d had to out myself multiple times, to multiple nurses and doctors: “I’m on Allegra. For allergies. And 100mg daily Sprionolactone, 100mg daily Prometrem, and 10mg daily Estrodial. Because I’m transgender – I’m on hormone replacement therapy.”

Continue reading 'Asserting identity in the hospital'»

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By Rebecca, October 21, 2009 1:52 pm

This is an excerpt from the script I’m working on for Trans Form, which is going up this December. Enjoy!

I’m fourteen, sitting on the chair in my therapist’s office.

I started going to therapy by choice, because the year before, at thirteen, I still couldn’t get past the panic attacks and separation anxiety that had kept me from sleepovers and overnight school trips and sleep-away summer camp for as long as I could remember. The pattern was always the same: I would get excited about staying at a friends’ house, at an overnight event at the Museum of Science and Industry, at whatever. I would go, convincing myself that this time would be different, that this time I’d be able to make it all night.

But as we started to get ready for bed, the panic would creep up. For those of you who have had a panic attack before, you know how it feels. To everyone else, it was a very physical sensation, a creeping along my arms and legs to my core, to my center. My blood would start to rush, tears would inevitably spring to my eyes, and if I didn’t go home, if I didn’t get away from whatever mundane childhood experience was driving me to a panic, I’d go into fullblown hysterics.

Finally, the summer after seventh grade, when I’d missed most of the seventh grade weekend trip to Wisconsin because of a panic attack, I decided  I would go to the eighth grade trip to Washington DC. So I started seeing a therapist. We worked for months on controlled breathing, biofeedback techniques, ways to divert my focus from panicking.

But the trip to DC is in the past. (I made it, by the way, and haven’t had problems being away from home since.) Now, I’m fourteen, sitting in the chair at my therapist’s office, across from my parents, about to come out to them.

Continue reading 'Coming Out'»

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By Rebecca, December 6, 2008 11:39 pm

Going through notes, I found this old outline of what I was thinking about for the solo performance while I was working on it. The most recent edit was on 9/30/08.

• Start with the first section of Ares and Aphrodite
  
• I think that works well going into Children’s Games, though I’m not sure. I also need to write something about bathing suits, and maybe this is a a good place to put it.
• Second section of Ares and Aphrodite
• Talk about fear of change – needs new writing. I think I should talk about separation anxiety and fears I had going into puberty (not that I saw them that way at the time, but looking back in retrospect…)
• Third section of Ares and Aphrodite – needs to be written. A jump taking the story from 10 (following the dream) to 20 (when the main character does something about it)

Continue reading 'Performance layout (a draft)'»

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By Rebecca, December 5, 2008 12:37 am

Thought people might enjoy seeing this…it’s, basically, the final version of the script I used for the solo performance from a couple weeks ago. Video is (hopefully) forthcoming.

GENERAL LIGHTING - CHILDHOOD GAMES

When I was young – I must have been 6 or 7 – I remember playing ‘make believe’ with a friend, running around in the park behind my house.

I remember that, at some point in the make believe, I was captured by the bad guys -

- and transformed into a girl. My friend had to rescue me! But ‘rescuing’ me didn’t mean ‘transforming me back into a boy,’ just ‘freeing me from the bad guys.’ I didn’t really want to be transformed back into a boy. And I remember it being important (for some pre-pubescent, gender-affirming reason) for me to be naked on the bed in my room, my penis tucked between my legs in a hairless V.

Continue reading 'Ares and Aphrodite script'»

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By Rebecca, July 24, 2008 3:08 am

(From tonight’s workshop. I’m rather pleased with how this piece came out, and think the metaphor I tapped will be fertile ground for future work.)

The audience is seated in a circle. I have intertwined male and female symbols drawn on my sternum in red/brown marker, partially obscured by my top. Two performers throw me on stage by my arms. I address the audience, making eye contact while prowling the circle.

I was struck at birth by the shaft of Ares. It’s true. And this was a poison arrow. Now, let it be said that the weapons of Ares are not poison to all. Walking with Ares does not always mean death and destruction. But, for me, it was a poison arrow.

Continue reading 'Ares and Aphrodite'»

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By Rebecca, May 8, 2008 5:19 am

(Lights up)

Hey! I’m so glad we could finally find a time to get coffee. I know we haven’t seen each other for a while, and I really wanted to catch up.

(Pause)

No, I’ve been doing good. Actually, well, I sort of never know how to do this. I really do want to hear how you’re doing, but I also wanted to talk to you because I want to come out to you. See, I identify as trans, which means a lot of different things for different people, but for me means that I don’t identify as male, but as female. And right now I’m in the process of what’s called ‘transitioning,’ which means I’m moving from presenting myself as and interacting with the world as a man toward presenting myself as and interacting with the world as a woman.

(Pause.)

I – well, I don’t know about that. I actually feel really privileged because I’ve been able to be in a community that’s pretty liberal, so people have been really supportive. And, well, I just wanted to let you all know as well.

(Pause)

No, it’s OK. I’ve actually been on hormones for about a year and am fortunate that they’re covered under my insurance plan.

(Pause) Continue reading 'A One-Sided Conversation'»

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By Rebecca, April 21, 2008 10:48 pm

Location: Backstage at a theatre

Characters:
Lewis, mid-20s, in an elaborate costume
Amanda, mid-20s, dressed very quirky (the costume designer)

Lights up

ANNA: [Fidgeting with the zipper on the costume] Hm. This still isn’t fitting quite right. [Continues to safety pin the costume]

LEWIS: Well, I don’t know if this matters, but I’m trans.

ANNA: [Stopping what she's doing] What?

LEWIS: Well, I’ve been on estrogen for the past year, which is where these [lifts a breast] are coming from. I don’t know if that’s messing up your
measurements.

ANNA: Oh. Um. No. The fabric is just folding differently than I expected.

LEWIS: Oh.

Lights down