Montague Basement to Present KALEIDOSCOPE

A new play by transman Charles O'Grady exploring transgender experiences and identity will play at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras later this month.

Kaleidoscope tells the story of a normal day in the life of Gabriel, a young trans guy just trying to leave his house.
In a one-sided conversation with his reflection, Gabe reveals regrets of lost love, anxieties about sex and flirting, and the struggle to be trans and gay in the Sydney clubbing scene. As he deals with who he sees reflected back at him, he becomes so much than what the mirror shows him.

"It made sense to me to tell this particular story--a trans character talking to himself and his reflection in the privacy of his own bedroom--through theatre, because there is even less representation of transness and gender identity in theatre than there is in film and television." O'Grady explains.

"Film and TV have, in the past few years, taken steps to represent trans and gender diverse people on our screens--whether or not it has been done very well (and it more often has not). On the other hand, theatre, particularly in Australia, almost never engages with these issues."

As a part of the wider festival this month around Mardi Gras, Kaleidoscope offers a crucial alternative narrative and dialogue to the mainstream celebrations. "As a gay trans man I have felt personally isolated from this broader queer community, as well as feeling its implications on a political level. I wanted to be celebrated for who I was too," says O'Grady

"Mardi Gras seemed like an ideal opportunity to take this show, about a gay trans man who feels isolated from the gay male community, to the audiences who need most to hear it."

Kaleidoscope is performed by Oliver Ayres, a transman and versatile actor. "To have a work about trans people written by a trans person as well as casting a trans person in its lead role is, unfortunately, still incredibly rare," O'Grady notes. "Frustrated by how ineffective protesting this trend was, it made sense to me to instead start creating the kind of thing I wanted to see."

Kaleidoscope is produced by Montague Basement in association with bAKEHOUSE Theatre Company.

Kaleidoscope will run at the Kings Cross Theatre from the 22nd of February to the 4th of March.