Trans women on stage: Erasure, resurgence and #notadebate

Abstract

This chapter argues for the importance of authentic representations of trans women onstage and explores the use of performance as a tool for political change and as a means of giving voice to an often maligned and marginalised group of women, largely excluded or invisible on stage and in performance. It presents an account of trans women performers past and present, from the ghosts of trans women erased from records of theatrical history to the often-overlooked radical contemporary performances taking place in nightclubs and on the streets around the globe. This analysis contains interviews with trans women including actor and cabaret performer Mzz Kimberley and acclaimed playwright Jo Clifford, author of the controversial play The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven. It also draws on the author’s own award-winning project None of Us is Yet a Robot and rehearsal room discoveries from her collaboration with the Before Shakespeare project on a revival of John Lyly’s trans-positive romantic comedy Galatea. We stand at a critical point of public opinion and censorship where casting practices and mainstream ideology are shifting and where the overt presence of trans women on stages around the world can affect positive change.