ANGSTY, REBELLIOUS AND POWERFUL!
ROXANNE
A music-performance-exhibition about what it means to occupy the in-between, performed only by members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
16, 17 and 18th December in BAR BARIO, the new bar for the community of color and queer community in Amsterdam.
Directed by Igor Alvarez Cugat
Scenography advice Rae Elstak
Voice-off "The Origin of Love" Steven van Watermeulen
Roxanne Nwanyibueze
Matilda Nazmul Zaman
Roxette Qianyi
D Dewi Sofia
Text Igor Alvarez Cugat, Jordan Scott Hardesty and ensemble
Text "The Origin of Love" Jordan Scott Hardesty
Song "Somedays I Just Walk Around" Qianyi
Photos Zaki Chohou
Original Music Nick Verschoor and Chet Moerland
THE PERFORMERS
Nwanyibueze DEBUT!!!
It all starts when she’s born in Germany from a white dutch mother and a black Afro-Brazilian father. Nwanyibueze’s life path has always strongly been influenced by the dualities of life, even more so after coming out to the world as a trans woman. In her 31 years on this planet she has learned to see the good in every person and has a loving and positive view of the world. The saying “where there is a will there is a way” is at the moment what describes her attitude towards life best. This attitude is accompanied by an enthusiastic and honest personality with which she hopes to bring out the best in people that she crosses paths with.
Nazmul Zaman
When one thinks of authentic, colourful and spontaniously crazy, Nazmul should come to mind. As a cisgender queer man with Bengali roots, he always tries to find the edges of gender non-conforming expressions in his real life and therefore his art forms. Singing and performing on stage enable him to share his passion for expressing one's inner feelings in a creative way: 'Being your authentic self and therefore living your truth with a dash of positivism is activism in it self!'
THE PERFORMANCE
What does it mean to occupy the in-between? In between the gender binary, in between sexualities, in between nationalities, in between homes, in between lovers. What are the limitations of this perceived in-betweenness, and can it be liberating?
These questions form the basis of Roxanne, a music-performance-exhibition that takes creative inspiration from the 2001 cult classic film Hedwig and The Angry Inch. Like the character in the film, Roxanne feels limited by their liminal status in the world: living in between identities. Roxanne forms their identity around their constraints.
Can they undress themselves of the limitations society puts on them, or are they destined to be bound forever?
Through use of a wide range of artistic mediums, from audio-play to mime, Roxanne looks to contextualize the in-between through an exhibition that make us aware of identities that exist next to the heteronormative.
THE PROJECT
Artistic and general rules
This performance was created in order to be performed in
different spaces or venues around the world.
The members of the team in each season must always be part of
the LGBTQIA+ community.
The performance must be different during each season, its aesthetics must be consistent with that of the venue in which it is taking place.
The original text may be modified with the authorisation of the dramaturg, but it will always maintain the original message and structures.
The lyrics of the songs can only be modified with the consent of the entire artistic team.
BAR BARIO
Bar Bario the new Amsterdam pub for us, by us. An inclusive environment that hosts collaborative projects with different artists from the BPoC and QUEER community.
“The bars in Amsterdam aren't inclusive enough for the community of color and queer community. Our goal is to create a new Amsterdam pub for everyone. At Bario everyone should feel safe, comfortable and be able to enjoy themselves.”
THE DIRECTOR
Igor Alvarez Cugat werd geboren in Cordoba, Argentinië. Zijn oom, de componist Xavier Cugat, was voor hem een grote inspiratiebron om zijn dromen te kunnen volgen en op zeer jonge leeftijd theater te gaan maken. Hij schreef en regisseerde zijn eerste stuk toen nog maar twaalf jaar oud was en maakte sindsdien één stuk per jaar.
Na zijn schooltijd verhuisde hij naar Buenos Aires om te leren van regisseurs als: Mauricio Kartun, Ricardo Halac en Pepe Cibrian Campoy, onder andere. Igor schreef en regisseerde meer dan vijftien toneelstukken met bekende artiesten als: Damián Mahler, Nicolás Bertolotto, Esteban Escot en anderen, en gaf muziektheater lessen tijdens een grote periode van zijn leven.
In 2018 verhuisde Igor naar Nederland om te studeren aan de Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Amsterdam, waarna hij in 2022 afstudeerde als theaterregisseur met voorstellingen als Spring Awakening & Roxanne.
“Ik treed op als stem voor degenen die worden gediscrimineerd op grond van seksuele geaardheid, genderidentiteit en/of genderexpressie.”
Thema’s met betrekking tot religie en familie spelen een grote rol in Igor’s werk, evenals depressie als gevolg van misbruik, pesten en negatieve sociale ontwikkeling tijdens de kindertijd. De regisseur geeft de trieste realiteit weer waar veel leden van de LGBTQIA+ gemeenschap last van hebben.
OUR THOUGHTS ABOUT ROXANNE
People around the world face violence and inequality—and sometimes torture, even
execution—because of who they love, how they look, or who they are. Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of ourselves and should never lead to discrimination or abuse.
Imagine your personal identity, as a thought experiment:
What is your nationality? Where were you born? What is your
sexuality? Your gender? What is your race? Your ethnicity? What is your job?
Your religion? What other beliefs, roles, identity markers are important to you?
Society by design wants clear answers to these questions. The gender you are assigned at birth can shape your entire life as society projects on you limitations of interests, jobs, and even personality traits. Your nationality too, is thought to be a stable part of your identity as if you cannot lose affiliation with your country of birth.
Life proves to be much more complex than the clear-cut and balanced world that Western society tries to enforce. You can be gender non-binary or agender, bisexual or pansexual or asexual, mixed race, agnostic, a jack-of-all-trades. These identities occupy an in-between, as it relates to societal norms, and that in-betweenness can be felt when individuals with such identities try to find community.
In reality, those that occupy the in-between are more likely to feel like an Other. Mental health and suicide statistics are often deeply connected to these identities. Philosophers and sociologists like Foucault and Derrida have looked at how those with identities that don’t fit into the boxes of society form identities around their otherness and can even
believe that they are in the wrong. Queer theorists and intersectional feminists have sought since at least the 1980s to repair the harm of society on certain identities and move towards a certain liberation. Small victories have been won in terms of representation and acceptance in greater society, but much of the change has still yet to happen.
Roxanne is a character that occupies the in-between in every form possible. They are the embodiment of this idea. They are bound and limited in her movement, and they are covered in walls. This piece is meant to explore the in-between, and also try to repair the damage that has been done.
We work for a world where all people can enjoy their identities fully.
Written by Jordan Scott Hardesty
OUR FIRST SEASON
The first season was made on Frascati Theater on the 25th May 2022.
Direction: Igor Alvarez Cugat. Scenography: Katrin Naftz. Music: Nick Verschoor, Chet Moerland. Text: Jordan Hardesty. Production: Matilda Rasquin. Technical production: Otte Stoltenberg, Berend van Leer. Light: Jasper Kayser.
Roxanne Jacob Moen
Matilda Rowan Kievits
Roxette Mher Brutyan
Roshelle Lana Van Der Brug
Rossie Nick Verschoor
Rhona Chet Moerland
Bart Agrî Issa
Audrey Audrey Helwes
Voice-off Steven Van Watermeulen
Photos by Ben van Duin
