To raise awareness on areas in which 2SLGBTQ+ individuals experience individual and systemic discrimination, we will produce Link Bechtold’s new play, Tiresias. The play focuses on issues of transphobia, undermining the transmedical narrative (the belief that all trans people experience gender dysphoria and transition with the end goal to become the opposite sex - a belief that is harmful to gender non-conforming trans people), and the process and barriers of accessing gender affirming care. Theatre allows audiences to live vicariously through experiences they may not otherwise have. In staging Tiresias, we want cis audiences to experience the titular character’s transitioning journey alongside her. Through this experience, we hope to increase cisgender audience’s understanding of what it is to be transgender, thereby deepening their empathy towards trans people. 

Tiresias is a story about gender euphoria and trans joy, but it also holds space for trans rage and trans grief. Tiresias deals closely with gender affirming care, the barriers surrounding access, and the transmedical expectations placed on trans people. In the original myth, the goddess Hera transforms Tiresias from a man to a woman and then back to a man. In Link’s retelling, Tiresias is a trans woman who begins hormones and undergoes bottom surgery, only to realize bottom surgery was the wrong decision. As Tiresias processes the consequences of her actions she discovers what it means to truly embrace herself as a unique individual. Tiresias includes a chorus of five other figures from Greek sex change myths. We adapted these characters to be explicitly transgender to showcase the individual diversity within the trans experience and illustrate the distinction between gender identity and gender expression. Through the chorus, we aim to convey that modes of expression are not inherently gendered but are assigned gender in a societal context. By bringing this play to full production we are raising awareness about these issues and creating roles for trans performers.

Rehearsals will culminate in five performances taking place September 26 through 28, 2025 at the Intrepid Studio space in Victoria, BC.