Research is underway!

So, this week, I have been mainly focusing on female-to-male transitioning (FTM for short) and engaging with loads of case studies.

Whilst I’m glad to say that a lot of my initial thoughts and processing has been largely intuitively correct, there has been a significant shift in my perspective as result of my engaging with FTM. I still have one or more interviews to conduct and I can’t wait. One of the things I am most pleased about is that my decision to change the age of Frankie (my would-be FTM character in the play) from 50s to early/mid 20s is really underpinned by the research I’ve carried out.  It’s become much more than an essay in exploring masculinity on stage through the female physique (which echoes some of the 1970 feminist thinking in itself, a fascinating area to mine). Now, it’s delving much more deeply – and analytically – into the psychological and physiological personal imperative. This is where I get fascinated by my subject. Because each one of my case studies, although deeply, deeply personal, from a wide variety of backgrounds, ethnicities, class and social positioning, all carry the same weight of pain, followed by exhilaration. And this has given me a remarkable insight into the male world! With Frankie, my aim is to embody some key issues through his personality without smashing the audience over the head with an academic reference book. Notice, I refer to Frankie as “him”: he is a male in a female body. Unlike the cisgendered amongst us (people who remain the same biological gender they were born with) Frankie is dealing with binary/non binary dilemmas whilst holding down a dead beat job as a ‘waitress’ in a diner….He still finds it hard to “pass” as a male. I have plans on how I am going to deal with this. I’m not entirely wedded to Frankie’s character name – that may change, but for now, it’s the moniker for my highly complex and – I hope – lovable – character.

I’m soon going to be moving onto Shyanne – my Afro American stripper - somewhat older than Frankie by as much as 20 years.   I already see her very clearly and I think I’ve discovered her theme music (“Carmen Queasy”). But again, the research I’ve already started titillating myself with thus far has resulted in some startling revelations!   It’s so easy to pigeonhole people by their profession, to form judgments on who they are, what they are like, how they function as human beings. I’m glad that Shyanne is already overturning my all-too liberalist, stereotypical preconceptions.  

There’s a reason why this play is called “TRAILER/trash”. But more of that another time and also how I intend to weave a musical soundtrack into a theatrical setting whilst replicating a virtual movie set!