ROXANNE
Fotografie - Ben van Duin & Robert van der Ree
Radioplay (proloog)
Muziek (laatste nummers)
The performance
I wholeheartedly want to create a new team (actors, scenography, technicians) independent of nationality, gender, ethnic or social background, religion, and sexual orientation or identity.
Artistic and general personal wishes:
-
This performance was created in order to be performed in different spaces or venues.
-
The members of the creative team in future seasons should be mostly 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 director and mentors, but it should always maintain the original message and structures.
-
The music could be played live or with recorded tracks. The lyrics of the songs can only be modified with the consent of the entire artistic team and mentors.
-
The costumes will depend on the fashion designer who is being part of the creative team during each season, so it should always be different.
First approach: character description:
-
Roxanne: Performer who presents as trans/non binary. I want to create a piece that is ‘gender euphoric’ and actively utilizes the knowledge and lived experience of trans people within the work. If you are comfortable bringing your life experience to this production, whatever trans identity you have, then I’d love to hear from you.
-
Roxie 1: Talented, confident vocalist. The role is a classic Diva performer with a twist. Vocal versatility is essential. Must be confident with harmonies, comfortable with improvisation, and most importantly have natural stage presence and star quality.
-
Roxie 2: A strong base physical performer, experienced in improvisation. Other important qualities are flexibility, openness and team spirit.
-
Roxie 3: Dancer with a strong vogue, street style and/or contemporary technique. Other important qualities are improvisation skills and a personal artistic voice open to engage in collaborative processes.
-
The Bartender: A player, manipulative, charming, positive, charismatic and open to be actively involved in the creative process.
Our thoughts
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.
By Jordan Scott Hardesty
Dramaturg.