The second Queer VOICES Theater Project is presented by VOICES at TACAW on October 18, 19, 20. The following is an edited excerpt from October’s VOICES Radio Hour. Listen to this episode and past episodes — and purchase tickets for the Queer VOICES Project — at www.voicesrfv.org
CASSIDY: The name of the Queer VOICES Theater Project this year is “Authentically Versus…” If you could fill in the blank for yourself, what would it be?
VARIOUS ENSEMBLE MEMBERS: Authentically Versus… Plastic, My Choices, Judgement, Masked, Living a Lie, Silence, Changes, Invisibility.
CASSIDY: I’d love to hear how you, as an ensemble, came to that title.
MYKI: Well, when we were initially rank voting potential titles for the show, I think it was a typo. It was supposed to say “Authentically Us,” but we read it as “Authentically Vs” and it clicked.
CASSIDY: The process you’re going through is a disruptive way of making theater. Rather than starting with a script and a specific vision from the director, you’re starting with your own experiences and stories, seeing where themes crossover, and ultimately creating a completely new work of theater. I’m curious what your experience has been with that process so far.
KEVIN: For me, the creative process behind this is something that was totally unfamiliar — and I am a creative. I’ve been an interior designer all my life, but I work linearly. This is not linear. This is the furthest thing from linear, and it’s crazy, but it’s really working.
MICHA: We met for the first time and we immediately were open and vulnerable with each other. There was a level of trust, and that has only continued. And we need that, because with devised theater, we are living from one day to the next. It’s not a project where you can plan ahead. We can just take it one step at a time and trust that everything will happen in divine timing because we’re doing it together.
DAVE: I love listening to people’s stories. That’s one of my all time favorite things to do. But being presented with the task of presenting my own story was incredibly scary because I don’t consider myself creative. But from the first rehearsal we all shared, it was mind blowing to me how much our stories were intertwined in their own way. None of us are the same, but our experiences and feelings were so similar.
ANISA: I have also been enjoying the creative process of sharing our stories and developing what that looks like on stage. Everyone in this room is really brave and everyone, in their individual, unique way, is on their journey to being the most authentic version of themselves, unapologetically and out loud.
CASSIDY: One thing that happens in almost every devised theater process is that common themes start to emerge. I would love to hear any themes that have come up, connecting your stories.
BLAKE: I’d say one of the largest themes actually came from our initial brainstorming and storyboarding, “the masks that we wear.” I feel like a lot of our stories have evolved from thinking about the masks we wear in different social settings: for acceptance, comfort, security, safety, or protection. For many different reasons, I think that has been a pretty significant throughline in a lot of stories.
VALERIE: Building off of that, the thing that has struck me in the process is that everyone shares a struggle to become ourselves. All of our stories are quite unique, quite personal, but at their root, they’re all about people struggling to find and become themselves.
CASSIDY: I would love to hear from any of you about what you, personally, hope to experience and feel at the end of this process.
MOLLY: The story that I’m sharing sheds light on the darkness. That was one of our prompts. More recently I have experienced a lot of darkness, but I’m slowly welcoming the light. Through my piece, I’m opening up a new door to a new light. I think that’s my goal.
MYKI: For me, I hope that once everything is said and done I’ll feel more comfortable with parts of myself in my everyday life. And as far as the audience, I’m really hoping that some of the elements I’m bringing to the table start deeper conversations.
ANISA: I think for me this project is a challenge to put my most vulnerable self on display, to care less about how other people are perceiving me, and show up in an authentic, raw, real way. I hope to leave the production feeling proud of myself, feeling like I gave my best and I was as vulnerable as possible. I hope that, in turn, inspires the audience to also live their most authentic life, no matter how hard it is.