SHOW DESCRIPTION

Underground TRANSit is a one-act work of spoken word theater that combines rhythmic storytelling, rock n’ roll, and a touch of drag in the journey of one white urban youth to her/his gender identity. Intended as a work of feminist activism as well as of art, sincerity and connection with the audience is key, while anecdotes from a homecoming queen turned transgender, lesbian boy-girl test the boundaries of "normative" gender and sexuality conceptions with humor and lighthearted criticism.

The show’s writer and solo performer, Kt Kilborn (Scott Turner Schofield), rhymes through a her/history of clashes with unwitting proponents of gender apartheid, dresses and undresses through the spectrum of boy to girl, and crows along to rock songs as she/he and the audience try to find a way out of current one-way conceptions of gender.

It’s not didactic, it’s not confessional: rather, it’s honest and playful, daring and touching. Well, that’s according to every audience it has played for: in keeping with the show’s activist intent, a confidential and candid discussion may follow each show as a means of fostering communication about gender and sexual identity, so that it’s no longer kept underground. This is an optional, but extremely valuable part of the entire piece.

Partial nudity and some adult language may make the show more suitable for an older crowd, depending on the venue’s opinions of what kids and teenagers already know, or should be exposed to. Audiences have ranged from strictly feminist women to queer people to self-identified "straight" sorority sisters and fraternity brothers, and a range of people in between. There is no “intended audience,” just folks who want to take a view outside of the gender binary, and have a good time doing so.

The script of Underground TRANSit was a finalist in the Agnes Scott College Annual Writers Festival competition in 2002, and along with her thesis on theatrical performance as activism, earned Kt Highest Honors when she graduated from Emory University.