Review: TRANS FEMME at Fuse Theatre Ensemble

Mikki Gillette is Portland’s most prolific playwright and, I’d guess, one of the most prolific playwrights on the planet. (How does she do it?) Her latest, TRANS FEMME, is a sharp new play receiving its world premiere from Fuse Theatre Ensemble. Asae Dean directs, marking the seventh time she and Gillette have worked together.

Set in 2011, TRANS FEMME follows the members of a trans femme support group and the tangled relationships among them. Sloan (Naomi Mcusic), the group’s facilitator, acts like nothing and no one really matters to her. That facade cracks when her longtime partner Astrid (Emilie Harrison) starts seeing Leela (Robin Amico), a newcomer to the group. Meanwhile, Kat (Nicki Darling), struggling financially, latches on to Sunny (Lena Way), who is working out what her transitioning means for her marriage to her cis wife, Fran (Morgan James).

The group’s members have been out for different lengths of time, and that shapes how each of them thinks about facing a world that’s often hostile to trans women. As Gillette puts it in the playwright’s note, “should one fight back, blend in, or indulge one’s inner victim or persecutor in the confines of her relationship”? They each have their own answers to that question, which reinforces an idea we all seem to need constant reminding of: no community is a monolith.

Gillette draws on her own experience here. She writes that in 2011, “more of the events depicted here than you might imagine occurred at and around the Trans Femme support group I attended.” She describes life at the time as “a high-stakes drama, graduate level gender studies course, and ridiculous soap opera all smashed together,” all of which she has translated into a play that is by turns comic, tragic, and political.

As a member of the queer community, I especially appreciate plays that show queer and trans people simply living their lives, and that’s what TRANS FEMME does. Each of these women is finding her own way through the world, armed with her own particular experiences (and the resulting defense mechanisms). The result is a messy relationship drama that will resonate with anyone who’s ever been in a relationship, while also offering insights into the specific pressures, both societal and personal, facing trans women. It’s well-written and well-acted, and it makes for an engaging evening at the theatre.

TRANS FEMME runs through October 25 at the Backdoor Theatre. Details and tickets here.

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