Trans-Mission, The Adventure of Living: March 4 to April 4, 2021

 

José Ramón Photography

Callback Series Online 2021 by Teatro Circulo premieres the streaming version of Trans-Mission, a testimonial one-woman show written and performed by Barbara Herr directed by Luis Caballero from March 4 to April 4, 2021.

 The year 2017 set a tone in New York's Latino theater: for the first time a transgender actress, Barbara Herr, presented a one-woman show based on her experience before her gender reassignment surgery. The season was carried out under the program Callback Series of Teatro Círculo, which promotes emerging works whose quality merits the support of the group to make a season.

The response from the public and theater specialists did not wait.  For the playwright and author Joselo Arroyo, Trans-Mission: “it kept the audience in emotional ups and downs that achieved an ideal balance to enjoy this type of work to its full potential”; according to scholar Lawrence LaFountain Stokes, "Trans-Mission was a major cultural event."

Barbara Herr, author, and interpreter of the one-man show, comments, "I was very surprised how many people supported the project, how many people identified with this work, with this story, and with my life experience."

The Trans-Mission theme can be summed up as the decision to be true to yourself. In Barbara's everyday life, this came at the cost of facing countless obstacles justified by segregation, prejudice, and transphobia.

The story begins with a Puerto Rican boy in the Bronx, a victim of bullying. Over time, the character acquires the strength and honesty to fight for his identity as a woman. In the presentation, the audience listens to some therapeutic sessions before the reassignment surgery. It is an autobiographical work, sometimes painful, sometimes with grace which makes visible Latina trans women life.

The testimonial character of the monologue is highlighted by the work of the film and theater director Luis Caballero. Apart from the empathy between director and actress, Caballero presents an austere space with great plasticity.

In times of pandemic, Trans-Mission will be streamed. Therefore, the team decided to make a special version in this format. "The process was a little strange," says Barbara, "although it was recorded at Teatro Círculo and the technicians were there, the work was carried out in several sessions in the complex times of Covid," says the actress.

Trans-Mission is the union between art and life. It is a way of meeting an "other" who was invisible until recently and who is still struggling. It is a story in which the human being overcomes prejudice.

 Callback Series Online 2021 by Teatro Circulo

Trans-Mission

March 4 to April 4, 2021: 8:00 pm (Monday-Sunday)

Saturday & Sunday: 3:00 pm and 8:00 pm

Written and performed by Barbara Herr

Directed by Luis Caballero

 

Tickets: $ 10 at TEATROCIRCULO.COM

In English.

Photo: José Ramón Photography

This program is made possible by the generous sponsorship of NYC Cultural Affairs, New York Council on The Arts, Howard Gilman Foundation, and Hispanic Federation.