All-trans team devises show on trans healthcare – “Patient is a Verb”, 16 – 17 Sept

Burning Attic presents “Patient is a Verb” at Blue Elephant Theatre in Camberwell, 16-17 September 8pm. A theatre show about accessing trans healthcare in the UK, through a video game world.

“Welcome to the waiting room to enter the realm of Transition*. You are the 11,407th player. Only 50 players have made it through Level One this month”

Inspired by interviews with 18 people across the UK and motivated by the 5 year waiting list to the GIC (Gender Identity Clinic), an all-trans team creates theatre exploring the costs of accessing medical care and of waiting in a broken system. Notably, due to the composition of the team, they are focusing on perspectives of trans male, trans masc and non-binary identities. Instead of a verbatim show, the team uses fictional characters in a retro video game world to portray grim realities and the absurdity of the system. 

Having previously had work-in-progress showcased at Omnibus Theatre, London LGBTQ+ Community Centre and Bread & Roses Theatre, “Patient” has been called “A modern day Waiting For Godot” by JK Sees and “The Trans Undertale” by audience members. A Young(ish) Perspective gave a 4-star review for the depiction of “an impossible system, not designed to be easily navigated – and there is no cheat code”. Reviewer JK Sees underlines its importance – “the ideas that form this play are overtly political and deserve to be shouted loudly about, especially in the current culture war climate of the Conservatives’ making.”  

The creative team, who has collectively devised this show, tells QX more about their interview-based creative process. 

Performer and writer Alex Sheppard (he/him) says, “As a trans man who came from a background where there was no trans representation, working on “Patient Is A Verb” has been an eye-opening experience! Through discussing material gathered through interviews, I’ve learnt so much about the other paths / struggles that all trans people face within the healthcare system, and I’m so proud to be a part of a performance that brings these issues to light in an accessible way.”

1-to-1 interviews formed the team’s research and starting point for creating the show. Writer and researcher Julian H (he/him) elaborates on the interview process, “Whilst each of our team members has their own connection to healthcare, we could not have become aware of our own positionalities without being exposed to different experiences, perspectives and opinions. This, I think, gave us the readiness to really dig into the things we thought were crucial to tell about the current state of trans healthcare.”

On the themes discovered through interviews, producer and director Florian Lim (they/them) adds, “Some common threads we seek to highlight include the unrealistic requirements imposed by a rigid binary system, widespread medical incompetence with regards to trans issues, further frustration to waiting caused by bureaucratic red-tape and error, and a fundamental lack of respect for trans patients’ autonomy. From our discussion of these themes, we created characters that would highlight and test the outdated categories drawn in the medical system.”

Given the significance and complexity of these topics, why present them through the medium of theatre?

Florian initiated the project “out of a belief in the emotive power of theatre to present the subjective patient-centred perspective, which is frequently obscured by mainstream media’s flashy headlines of “trans issues” that do not scratch the surface of the true challenges faced by trans people. Many cis people we spoke to were unaware of the current 5 year waiting list to the Gender Identity Clinic. But even knowing these numbers, the statistic of 11407 people on the waiting list as of May 2022, that only 50 people were offered first appointments that month, that works out to 228 months (19 years) to clear this list – these figures cannot tell us what it means to go through this system as a real person. What 5 years really means to an individual’s life – that was my starting point for this project.”

The importance of theatre for telling these stories grew clearer to Julian as they progressed with the project, “We realised that we didn’t want to present another transgender tragedy, where a cis audience could only despair for the trans characters, as it neither served our purposes nor was true to the interviews. Theatre’s ability to both entertain and move audiences then became a crucial point for how we thought of the project.” The team wish to use theatre to create a show enjoyable to trans audiences and not a pure reliving of their pain, while also educating cis audiences through accessible characters and cultural references. 

Using a retro video game framework  

Most strikingly, the show’s video game framework and visual aesthetic incorporates multimedia and popular culture elements, using projection visuals by Andy Bodrenkov (they/them) and sound design by Andy and Alex. It is not a coincidence that several of the team’s members are avid gamers and part of online communities.

This analogy was conceptualised rather spontaneously early in the process, inspired by a quote from an interview participant about video games saving their life, but it grew to make more and more sense. Julian’s main takeaway was that, “both video games and medically transitioning are subjected to fear-mongering about health risks and unproductivity, whilst for the players / transitioners they provide an opportunity to pursue different modes of living. This contrast between the public opinion and the individual experience was something that we found very apt for describing the pursuit of trans healthcare in the current political climate of the UK.” 

This analogy provided a framework for creating a fictionalised show, bringing together the team’s varied artistic backgrounds, including lighting and sound design, graphic design, animation, writing, philosophy, movement, and more. This interdisciplinary style was one of Florian’s goals when founding the new collective Burning Attic, hoping to intervene in our multimedia world through experimenting with combining art forms. Julian, whose work has been mainly textual, “really appreciated the opportunity to explore how trans experiences can be discussed in the presence of actual bodies, without re-creating the conditions which produce the trans body as a spectacle for the audience.” 

The team have really enjoyed their rare first experience of working in an all-trans team on issues close to their hearts, and are excited to share their first full-length performance of the piece. 

Creative Team / Devisers: Alex Sheppard* (he/him), Andy Bodrenkov (they/them), Florian Lim (they/them), J Frank* (he/they), Julian H (he/him), Lisa Maeda* (they/them), Rae Harm (he/him) 

*Performers

“Patient is a Verb” will be performed at Blue Elephant Theatre in Camberwell, 16-17 September 8pm. 

Running time 1 hour. Please note that these will be script-in-hand, work-in-progress performances. 

Tickets are £10, £8  and £6, find out more here: http://www.blueelephanttheatre.co.uk/patient-verb

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Best LGBT Gay Theatre In London September 2022

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