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Theatre Tue Nov 09 2010
New Suit Theatre Presents Trans Form
Trans Form is a brave and honest expression of what it means to be a transgender individual. The one-woman show, written and performed by Rebecca Kling and presented by New Suit Theatre, explores the confusing reality of living in a body that feels all wrong, and the frustration of living in a world that perpetually fails to understand.
Kling opens her performance as a young boy, bouncing off the walls of his bedroom in the midst of a shoot-'em-up make-believe game. With a boyish wardrobe and hair pulled back into a tight bun, Kling explores her early life, slowing exposing to the audience how terribly unhappy she was. Puberty was the tipping point of Kling's depression and identity crisis, and leads to some confusing therapy sessions, several suicide attempts, and eventually coming out to her parents and deciding to transition.
Kling doesn't hold back in her explanations of how dark her existence became. This autobiographical explanation is a successful attempt to humanize a state of being that is still ostracized and belittled. Kling points out that slang terms for different races, ethnicities, and sexual orientations have mostly been erased from television and publicly appropriate conversations, but that "tranny jokes" are still fair game. The most open-minded audience members will likely be caught off guard by one misunderstanding or another that Kling points out and corrects.
Trans Form was a powerful and educational experience that captivates on both theatrical and educational levels. The autobiographical nature of the story hits an emotional note that allows outsiders to shed their preconceptions on Transgender identities, and leave the theatre without any labels or stereotypes in mind- just a sensitivity and appreciation for the struggle that Rebecca Kling and others like her have survived.
Trans Form runs at Anthenaeum Theatre through December 5th.