From Timeout Chicago:
Rebecca Kling’s 40-minute solo performance begins with her miming her way through her morning routine—shower, makeup and swallowing a comical number of pills. She repeats it over and over, the ritual becoming more and more abstract. The transgender performer’s piece returns to this motif several times, as ritual is one of the show’s defining themes (the title is a reference to the Jewish mourning ritual of sitting shiva, during which a house’s mirrors are covered). Kling’s exploration of her experience as a transgender person and her transition process meanders a bit, and as is so often the danger with the solo-confessional genre, it teeters in places on the edge of navel-gazing. Kling is a charming presence, and she explains her struggle to own her gender identity compellingly. In fact, I wish she’d do more direct connection with the audience. Bits and gags like a “build your own ritual” instructional-video sequence serve to distance us. —Kris Vire
Last night went pretty well. There were some significant technical issues with the video not coming up, but the important chunk of video did play and the rest was fine to ad-lib through (and the audience seemed forgiving). I veered wildly off script at a few points, and could see the stage manager flipping through the script to try and figure out where the hell I was, which was unfortunate. I’m taking time to majorly review my lines before my 4PM show this afternoon.
But it’s opened! The infernal beast is on its way, and I didn’t die (or have to call for lines, or cry on stage, or run out of the theatre screaming, all things I worried I might have to do).
Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic…
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
Once upon a time there was a complex and mysterious land: the Land of Gender.
Gender was a dense place, thick with hidden secrets. The terrain was unknowable, the wilderness untamed: brambly groves, swirling rivers, deep canyons, towering forests. The Land resisted any attempt to understand or define it.
Explorers embarked on great journeys to survey Gender, to make sense of its breadth and variety. Because the terrain had an infinite number of vistas – expansive deserts, lofty mountains, cresting oceans – each explorer came away from the Land of Gender with a different understanding of the landscape. But none of these vantage points proved any more complete or detailed than any other; no explorer had any better view of Gender than any other.
For untold ages, attempting to put the Land of Gender to paper, to capture its shape, was impossible. Cartography was useless, inadequate. The land refused to be charted or unified by a singular map. It continued to exist in only the experiences of those who ventured into the unknowns, their disparate accounts and partial understandings.
While most explorers were content with the mysteries and fluidity of the Land of Gender, one explorer in particular wished desperately to strip the Land of its relentlessness. Where other explorers would enjoy the mysteries of the Land of Gender, this explorer found fear and panic. And so He set about developing a map which could measure, manage, and master the Land of Gender once and for all.
A friend of mine is in the show Talk Radio, which closed today in Chicago. The show is described as follows:
Talk radio host Barry Champlain is a relic of an analog age, on the verge of a deal for national syndication. Tonight, not only is he under assault from many callers-in, but he also has digital communication thrust upon him. Bogosian meets Orwell in this commentary on the media.
I went to today’s 3PM closing, and after 30 minutes of sexism, transphobia, victim blaming, and general obnoxiousness, I walked out. So what’s the protocol for walking out on friends?
Continue reading 'Walking out on friends'»
To own up to my history outs me as trans and brings up a long stretch of time – the first twenty or so years of my life – that’s at odds with how I see myself now. When I talk with people about Judaism, do I acknowledge my Bar Mitzvah and out myself, or do I say I had a Bat Mitzvah and rewrite part of my life? When a coworker talks about buying suits or ties, do I chime in with memories of my experiences, or do I stay silent? Do I ask my parents to take down pictures from the first two decades of my life? To wipe clean the time before I was 22 or 23? To cover the mirrors which reflect the parts of myself I don’t always want to remember, don’t always want to see?
From Trans Form, my December 2009 show (emphasis added)
Uncovering the Mirrors postcard
My upcoming show is called Uncovering the Mirrors. It’s a reference to the bolded line above, sure, but more broadly it’s a reference to how one holds shiva (a mourning gathering in Judaism): “It is proper to cover the mirrors in the shiva house [because] a mourner is striving to ignore his/her own physicality and vanity in order to concentrate on the reality of being a soul.”
The “mirror” in my performances is a metaphor for something. In Trans Form, it was a metaphor for “the parts of myself I don’t always want to remember.” That is, the “male” parts of me that I was trying to get away from.
The title Uncovering the Mirrors, though, speaks to a desire to not cover up or hide. And so, recently, I’ve been trying to figure out what, exactly, that mirror is.
Continue reading 'What is “The Mirror”?'»
I’ve been experimenting with Vimeo, as opposed to YouTube, for hosting my video files. It’ s not as widespread as YouTube, but is much more artist-focused and (I’m told) has nice tools and a community around sharing one’s work (rather than sharing cat videos).
As part of that exprimentation, I figured I’d embed the same video from Vimeo and YouTube and see how it came out. Continue reading 'Using Vimeo'»
Heya! I’ve attached two drafts for the front of my postcard (as well to use as a poster). I’d love thoughts. I feel like the draft 2 is a bit too busy, but I do want to find a way to include one of my (awesome) press quotes. Please let me know what you think!
Uncovering the Mirrors, draft 1
Uncovering the Mirrors, draft 2
Hey gang! Less than two months away from my next performance, Uncovering the Mirrors, which will debut September 1-5 at the first annual Chicago Fringe Festival! I’m really excited about this piece, as it’s building off of the work I did last year and is incorporating some great new stuff. It’s also giving me a chance to collaborate with friends who are helping with direction and choreography. Expect to hear lots more about over the next two months.
I’m also pleased to announce that I’ll be working with the Chicago-based New Suit Theatre Company on remounting Trans Form later this year. Stay tuned for more info on that project.
As always, I implore you for donations. A significant chunk of my Trans Form budget was covered by donations, and I’m proud to say the readers of this blog made some pretty awesome contributions. Any amount helps, and I really do appreciate it.
Thanks!
Comments (0) 
Themocracy