Indianapolis Star – Interview August 2011
IndyFringe play breaks down gender barriers
Written by Allison Tyra, Star correspondent, 8/24/2011
Dubbed “charming,” “eloquent” and “compelling” by theater critics, Chicago performance artist Rebecca Kling uses the stage to reflect on her life as a transgendered woman.
Her one-woman show, “No Gender Left Behind,” is a mix of personal narratives — hers and others — along with video and movement pieces. The idea for the show began, she said, when she was fired from a subcontracted teaching job at the Neal Math and Science Academy in North Chicago “for being transgendered.”
“That, along with some other experiences working with some other people and hearing their stories, really prompted me to think about how we deal or don’t deal with gender, both with kids and with adults.”
Kling got her first taste of fringe at the 2010 Chicago Fringe Festival, when she presented “Uncovering Mirrors,” a reference to the Jewish tradition of sitting shiva. This year, she added Indianapolis and Kansas fringe festivals to her “Midwest tour.” She will present “No Gender Left Behind” at the Basile Theater. A graduate of Northwestern University’s department of performance studies, with an adjunct major in animate arts, Kling teaches at the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston, Ill.; sits on the board of directors of Chicago’s Pride Films and Plays; and writes for BlogHer.
She spoke to the Star between performances in Kansas City.
Question: What do you hope people take away from your show?
Answer: More information, and the ability to say, “Maybe this is something I haven’t thought about, but now I have some tools to think about.” I don’t need necessarily for someone to come in and have a revelation in these, but I do feel like, as a performer, part of my job is to start a conversation.
Q: By putting yourself out there, do you ever worry about making yourself a target for harassment?
A: I’m not trying to make a target of myself, but I’m aware that by speaking out, that sometimes is an issue. At the end of the day, I sleep better knowing that I used my voice to try to impact change, (rather) than worrying about how that would be perceived.
Q: Have you participated in the It Gets Better Project?
A: I haven’t. I’m a little conflicted: On one hand, I think it is a fantastic resource for kids who are in small towns and kids who don’t have a gay community, to remind people that, “Hey, this exists.” The message of “wait it out — where you are now is not forever” is really important.
At the same time, it’s very passive, and I would love to see a counter-campaign saying that, as adults, as people with more power over the universe — over laws, over schools, over all of that — we have an obligation to make it better. And particularly for transgendered youth, it doesn’t get better. There is medical intervention that’s necessary — there are pills and hormones and all sorts of things that make being trans different than being gay or lesbian.
Q: “Uncovering Mirrors” was a reference to the Jewish tradition of sitting shiva. Where did that come from?
A: Shiva is a mourning period similar to a wake. Traditionally, you cover the mirrors in the mourning household — the idea behind that is you’re not supposed to focus on your outer appearance. You’re supposed to focus on remembering and grieving and thinking about what has been lost, and I thought that was a really beautiful metaphor.
So often in our lives, and particularly for me as a trans person, mirrors are hard. They reflect the things that we maybe don’t want to see. For a really, really long time, I didn’t like seeing myself in the mirror and preparing my appearance, because there was a lot of baggage. I think that’s really powerful — that we cover things that we don’t want to see, and that hopefully we can get to the point where we uncover them and be ready to see them.
Q: Do you have a favorite part of “No Gender Left Behind”?
A: I pull a lot of 1940s and ’50s sex- ed videos, and those are hilarious. There’s one section that talks about what you can and can’t do while menstruating — how you can wash your hair if you dry it, and go swimming if you wait a couple days, and you can go to picnics, but you shouldn’t go horseback riding or do vigorous dancing like square dancing. And it’s clear they were just making things up, though I’m sure they were very well-intentioned.
There’s also a lot of fun stuff I’m doing to explore the negative ways we teach gender, and sort of parodying that, and playing with the audience. And then sharing the experience of being fired. It’s really cathartic to say I was fired, and it happens, and it’s totally ridiculous, and I’m not going to let it silence my voice.
Editor’s note: After being fired, Kling filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The issue is currently under investigation.
Originally published at http://www.indystar.com/article/20110825/ENTERTAINMENT/108250304/IndyFringe-play-breaks-down-gender-barriers?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|IndyStar.com|s