Audience Response

WORD OF MOUTH
Yours is the Best Press

Just wanted to say that it was a pleasure working with you at DiverseWorks! At our staff meeting yesterday, we talked about how awesome your performance was and how the TG community rules in Houston. You have made such an impact on all of us! Anyways…

Just wanted to make sure you that got this fantastic review from The Rice Thresher!

http://media.www.ricethresher.org/media/storage/paper1290/news/2009/02/27/Entertainment/Thoughts.On.Schofields.GenderBending.Becoming.A.Man.In.127.Easy.Steps-3651627.shtml

Thanks again for performing at TransGiving. You stole everyone's heart and refused to give any of them back, especially Jason's. Now he sees why I think you and Ryka are both such special people, and he wants to understand more about transgendered and genderqueer folk.

- After Trans/Giving, Los Angeles, 11/08


Thanks again for presenting to our Counseling Center staff and guests last Wednesday morning, as part of your time at UCF. The feedback that I heard was very positive, and it seemed that everyone found your talk valuable. I enjoyed meeting you and appreciate your working with us on this.

- After University of Central Florida workshop for mental health professionals, Orlando, 10/08


Thank you so much for coming to Rollins this week and for speaking to us as faculty, staff and students. I found your presentation to be informative and inspiring, offering me a sense of clarity and compassion for a community I will admit I do not often think twice about. Thank you, thank you, thank You.

- After Rollins College workshop for mental health professionals, Orlando, 10/08


I wanted to tell you how fantastic you were! To put yourself out there like that takes a lot of courage and I applaud you for having the confidence in yourself to do that and share how wonderfully diverse yet ultimately, in a deeper sense, how similar we are. With such honesty yet keeping it light with your humor.

- After "Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps" at 7 Stages, Atlanta, 8/08


I just wanted to reiterate how much Jay and I enjoyed your show last night. Your story is a fascinating one, and beautifully told.

- After "Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps" at 7 Stages, Atlanta, 8/08


i was so touched by your performance.

there was a strong connection for me in watching it...... seeing that is was sooo very real.

not that i thought it wouldn't be , or that of it was made up. you are so very brave. i wanted to hug you, but when i shook you hand, i couldn't even talk because i wanted to cry. not from being sad, but just feeling like i wasn't alone.

it hit me very hard, because i've kinda been struggling for the past year with my identity, and all the labels there are to choose from. i don't want to have to choose, or have to explain myself and who i am to anybody.i am trans.but i always felt like i had to look a certain way.....to actually be able to use that, for people to understand me in this community.

but its me.its who i am. and i accept it.

it made so much sense....made me so comfortable to watch you and hear you......i cried during your show. and i felt like the audience...maybe took some of things that you talked about differently than i did. i just understood it. i understood you.

and i understood myself better than i have in recent months.

i can't wait to read your book, to read all of your stories.....because some of them are mine too, you know?

- After "Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps" at 7 Stages, Atlanta, 8/08


I was at the Evergreen workshop performances and I was wondering how well the Seattle show went.
127 Steps was one of the most moving and dialectical things I've ever seen. I talk about it to all of my friends and what an intense experience the show was.
The flier hangs in my studio because it was something so thought provoking.

- After "Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps" at The Evergreen State College, Olympia, 10/07

Scott Turner Schofield Calendar Dates

Calendar
upcoming performances by Scott Turner Schofield

NOW BOOKING FOR SPRING & FALL 2009

SPRING 2008
Scott will be making limited appearances due to a
2007 Princess Grace Foundation Fellowship in Acting

1/20-27- The Carnival Center | Miami, FL
"Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps"
The Studio Theater
National Performance Network Residency
supported by an NPN Community Fund Grant
presented by Tigertail Productions

1/28-2/3 - 7 Stages | Atlanta, GA
WORLD PREMIER!!!
"Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps"
8pm Thurs - Sat.
National Performance Network Residency

2/22-24 - The Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally
College Conference 2008 | Urbana-Champaign, IL
"Debutante Balls"
and Workshops
Show: 8:30pm, Greg Hall, UIUC Campus
FREE

3 /24-30 - Out North | Anchorage, AK
"Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps"
and residency activities
7pm Thurs - Sat.
4pm Sun.
Tickets $17.75 online, $20 at the door

6/19-22 - FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL, San Francisco, CA
"Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps" (excerpt)
Project Artaud Theater
Thurs. 6/19: 8pm
Fri. 6/20: 8pm
Sat. 6/21: 8pm
Sun. 6/22: 7pm
Tickets $15



8/8-10 - TRANSOHIO Conference, Columbus, OH
details TBA


FALL 2007
Scott will be making limited appearances due to a
2007 Princess Grace Foundation Fellowship in Acting

10/19 - The Evergreen State University | Olympia, WA
"Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps" workshop & residency
The Experimental Theater
National Performance Network Residency

10/27 & 28- Capitol Hill Arts Center (CHAC) | Seattle, WA
WORLD PREMIER!!!
"Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps"
8pm
National Performance Network Residency
presented by The Pat Graney Company

11/6-9 - Appalachian State University | Boone, NC

11/12-19 - Legion Arts Center | Cedar Rapids, IA
Debutante Balls
National Performance Network Residency


SPRING 2007

1/20 - The University of Wyoming at Laramie
The Southern Gents Tour, 7pm
with Athens Boys Choir

1/22-23 - Butler University | Indianapolis, IN
Debutante Balls, 7pm

1/27 - Femme Mafia Masquerade | Atlanta, GA
Special Drag Performance
with Wild Ivy

3/5-10 - The Pat Graney Company | Seattle, WA
"Words Can't Describe" Workshop
A National Performance Network Residency
supported by an NPN Community Fund Grant

3/23 - SUNY Purchase
Debutante Balls, 7pm

3/25 - Colgate University | Hamilton, NY
Transgender 101 Workshop
part of Big Gay Weekend

4/2-6 - Indiana University of Pennsylvania | Indiana, PA
Debutante Balls, 7pm

4/12 -Macalester University | St. Paul, MN
Underground Transit, 7pm

4/15-16 - Yale University | New Haven, CT
Debutante Balls, 7pm, 4/15
Master's Tea, Branham College, 4/16

4/17-18 - The Playwrights' Center | Minneapolis, MN
"Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps" script workshop

4/17 - District 202 / Outward Spiral Theater | Minneapolis, MN
"Words Can't Describe" Youth Theater Workshop

4/19 - University of Minnesota | Minneapolis, MN
Underground Transit, 7pm

4/25 - Emory University | Atlanta, GA
Trans 101 Workshop

4/27 - Marietta College | Marietta, OH
Debutante Balls, 7pm

10/2 - Franklin & Marshall University | Lancaster, PA
Debutante Balls, 7pm

5/18 - Moxie Cabaret | Atlanta, GA
Moxie Cabaret WORLD PREMIER
Master of Ceremonies
Spring 4th, 9pm SHARP


FALL 2006

10/10 - Appalachian State University | Boone, NC
Debutante Balls, 7pm

10/11 - The University of Georgia | Athens, GA
The Southern Gents Tour, 7pm
with Athens Boys Choir

10/12 - The University of North Carolina at Asheville
The Southern Gents Tour, 7pm
with Athens Boys Choir

10/22 - International Drag KingCommunity Extravaganza | Austin, TX
Drag Brunch!
check out IDKE 8!

10/24 - Rice University | Houston, TX
The Southern Gents Tour, 7pm
with Athens Boys Choir

10/27 - The Forum at College of Santa Fe| Santa Fe, NM
The Southern Gents Tour, 7pm
free to students, $5-10 General Public
with Athens Boys Choir and Cooper Lee Bombardier

11/1 - The University of Wyoming at Laramie
The Southern Gents Tour, 7pm
Student Union
with Athens Boys Choir

11/5 - Reed College | Portland, OR
The Southern Gents Tour, 9pm
Reed College Chapel
with Athens Boys Choir

11/6 - The University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA
The Southern Gents Tour, 7pm
Ground Zero Coffeehouse
with Athens Boys Choir

11/12 - National Performance Network Annual Meeting | Cedar Rapids, IA
Debutante Balls excerpt, 2:10pm

11/14 - Portland State University | Portland, OR
The Southern Gents Tour, 7pm
PSU Student Union rm. 228
with Athens Boys Choir


SPRING 2006

1/1 - 7 Stages | Atlanta, GA
"Hard Up in 2006", 12:15am
part of Art Amok!
produced by Word Diversity Collective

1/13 - The University of Wyoming at Laramie
The Southern Gents Tour, 7pm

3/15 - The University of Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh, PA
"Debutante Balls"
8:45pm, William Pitt Union
Sponsored by the Rainbow Alliance

3/22 - Emory University | Atlanta, GA
"Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps - A Memoir in Performance"
7pm, Harris Parlour
Sponsored by the Center for Women at Emory, The Office of LGBT Life
and the Department of Theater Studies
map

3/23 - Charis Books & More | Atlanta, GA
Transinclusive Healthcare
(panel speaker)
Charis and Feminist Women's Health Center bring you a panel discussion
on healthcare for transmen and transwomen, FTM and MTF transexuals,
and women questioning their gender.
We will hear from healthcare practicioners, transpeople and more.

4/5 - The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
"Debutante Balls"
Time/Venue TBA

4/8-15 Touring with the Tranny Roadshow
find out more

5/17 and 19 - Hugo House | Seattle, WA
presented by Pat Graney Dance Company
"Debutante Balls"
and "Words Can't Describe" with area queer/trans performers and allies.
Week-long community performance residency precedes performances.

5/26-28 - Jump Start Performance Co.| San Antonio, TX
"Debutante Balls"
and "Words Can't Describe" with area queer/trans performers
Week-long community performance residency precedes performances.
Jump Start Performance Co


FALL 2005

9/13 - The Poynter Institute | St. Petersburg, FL
"Underground Transit" at American Stage, 4pm

9/23 - Southern Comfort Conference | Atlanta GA
Selection from "Debutante Balls", 1pm

10/7 - Agnes Scott College | Decatur GA
The Southern Gents Tour

10/17 - Bates College | Lewsiton, ME
The Southern Gents Tour

10/18-20 - Cornell University | Ithaca, NY
10/20: "Debutante Balls"

11/7-9 - West Chester University | West Chester, PA
"Underground Transit"

11/15 - Reed College| Portland, OR
The Southern Gents Tour

11/16 - Portland State University | Portland, OR
The Southern Gents Tour

11/17 - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
"Underground Transit"

11/19 - TransGiving | Los Angeles, CA
"Debutante Balls" teaser

11/20 - The University of California at Los Angeles
"Debutante Balls" teaser


SUMMER 2005

7/29-30 - 7 Stages | Atlanta, GA
"Words Can't Describe"
with S. Bear Bergman

6/16-18 - National Queer Arts Festival | San Francisco, CA
FRESH MEAT 2005
4th Annual Festival of Transgender and Queer Performance
ODC Theater


SPRING 2005

2/10-13 - The University of California at Santa Barbara
"Debutante Balls"
part of the GenderQueer/Queer Genders Conference

3/3 - Hampshire College | Amherst, MA
"Debutante Balls"

3/4-8 - Emory University Brave New Works Festival | Atlanta, GA
"School's Out"
a new play by
Scott Turner Schofield and Mark Blankenship

3/15 - Columbia College | Chicago, IL
"Underground Transit"
and "Performing the Personal as Political" Workshop

3/29 - Vassar College | Poughkeepsie, NY
"Debutante Balls"

3/31 - Butler University | Indianapolis, IN
"Underground Transit"

4/3-4 - Wesleyan University | Middletown, CT
"Underground Transit"
and "Performing the Personal as Political" Workshop

4/13 - Emory University | Atlanta, GA
"Debutante Balls"

5/16 - Northwestern University | Evanston, IL
"Debutante Balls"

5/5-29 - 7 Stages | Atlanta, GA
"Wizzer Pizzer"
a WORLD PREMIER play by
Amy Wheeler


FALL 2004

9/23-24 - The Chicago Single File Festial | Chicago, IL
"Debutante Balls"
WORLD PREMIER
www.singlefilechicago.com

10/4-7 - Emory University Brave New Works Festival | Atlanta, GA
"Turn Me On"
A New Play by
Sheri Mann Stewart and Scott Turner Schofield
Directed by Snehal Desai

10/8 - The Radial Cafe | Atlanta, GA
"Body Heat"
A Queer Spoken Word Extravaganza
Featuring:
Femrotica
The Athens Boy's Choir
Scott Turner Schofield
with MC Adriana
All proceeds benefit Georgians Against Discrimination

10/12 - The University of Houston | Houston, TX
"Debutante Balls"
Houston Room, 8pm

10/15 - The University of North Carolina at Asheville
"Debutante Balls"
Highsmith University Union Rm. 143, 7:00pm

10/21 - The University of Virginia | Charlottesville, VA
"Gay Marriage Here Today"
A Community Response to
House Bill No. 751

11/7 - LadyFest South | Atlanta, GA
"What to Wear / The First Week of a Nightmare"

11/18-20 - The University of Wyoming at Laramie
"Debutante Balls"
and Transgender 101 workshops

12/3 - Peterborough, NH
"Debutante Balls"
(Private Event)

12/9 - Boston, MA
GenderCrash Feature



SPRING 2004

April - The B Complex| Atlanta,GA
Early excerpt from "Debutante Balls"
part of SEEN+HEARD: Atlanta's Women's Arts Festival
produced by EstroFest Productions



2003

11/7 - The University of Virginia | Charlottesville, VA
"Underground Transit"
and "Performing the Personal as Political" Workshop

10/11-12 - The University of Wyoming at Laramie
"Underground Transit"
and "Performing the Personal as Political" Workshop


(fabulous hosts and audience members, 10/12)

9/4-6 - sTaGes 2003: The First National Transgender Theatre Festival
New York, NY
"Underground Transit"
9/4-5 at Under St. Mark's Theater
9/6 at the WOW Cafe

7/29-8/3 - The 27th Annual Meeting of ALTERNATE ROOTS | Winder, GA
"Underground Transit"

6/25-26 - HERE Arts Center and Dixon Place present
The FUSE Festival - the celebration of queer culture in New York City
"Underground Transit"


Kt with Kate Bornstein after the show!

4/6-9 - AIDS OASIS Conference | Pensacola, FL
"Underground Transit"

4/3 - The University of North Carolina at Asheville
"Underground Transit"

3/3 - First Existentialist Congregation | Atlanta,GA
"The Lysistrata Project"

1/9-18 - Actor's Express | Atlanta,GA
"This Train"



2002

10/21- Ondine & Co. | Atlanta,GA
"Falling as Sport"
part of "Damaged but Not Dead and Other Hilarious Survival Stories"
produced by EstroFest Productions

10/12 - LadyFest South | Atlanta, GA
"Underground Transit"

9/29 - Southern Comfort Conference | Atlanta, GA
"Underground Transit"

9/27-10/6 - Theatre in the Square Alley Stage | Marietta, GA
"Underground Transit"
produced by Theater OUTlanta

8/30-31 - Mumm PuppetTheater | Philadelphia, PA
"Underground Transit"
part of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival

6/22-28 - PushPush Theater | Atlanta,GA
"Underground Transit"
part of "Vamp/Revamp" produced by EstroFest Productions

March/April - Emory University | Atlanta, GA
"Underground Transit"
Honors Thesis showings

3/11 - Bennington College | Bennington, VT
"Underground Transit"

3/9 - Bard College | Poughkeepsie, NY
"Underground Transit"
part of WORD! Spoken Word Fest
with Jessica Care Moore and Willie Perdomo

2001

12/1 - Charis Books & More | Atlanta,GA
"Underground Transit"
WORLD PREMIER

2/18 - PushPush Theater | Atlanta,GA
Early excerpt from "Underground Transit"
part of SEEN+HEARD: Atlanta's Women's Arts Festival
produced by EstroFest Productions

Thoughts on Schofield's gender-bending Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps - Entertainment

A glowing review - I am honored by the author's willingness to come on the journey of the piece with me! And super excited that the review echoes the emails I receive after every show. Hooray.

Thoughts on Schofield's gender-bending Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps - Entertainment

Performance deconstructs definitions - Arts

The first review of Two Truths and a Lie in performance!

Performance deconstructs definitions - Arts

Hi-larious

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Ruling Inspires New Hope For Transgender People

By Ann E. Marimow
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 15, 2008; Page B01

Dana Beyer, a transgender woman, makes a toast Friday at a Silver Spring restaurant during a celebration of the anti-discrimination ruling.
Dana Beyer, a transgender woman, makes a toast Friday at a Silver Spring restaurant during a celebration of the anti-discrimination ruling.

To Allyson Robinson, it means accompanying her young children to public restrooms in Montgomery County without worrying that someone will call the police.

For Colleen Fay, it brings the hope that the next time she applies for a driver's license she won't be badgered about her previous life as a man.

And for Chloe Schwenke, it means other people like her will be able to enjoy the job security she has found in her international development work in the District.

With the decision by Maryland's highest court last week to block a referendum petition, Montgomery County's law banning discrimination against transgender people takes effect immediately.

The measure, passed by the County Council last year, prohibits discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. It was to take effect in February but was put on hold when some religious and conservative groups launched a petition drive.

The court's ruling was an important political and symbolic victory for gay and transgender rights advocates. Council member Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At Large), the bill's main sponsor, and Equality Maryland, the group that led the legal challenge, hosted a celebration Friday night at Jackie's Restaurant in Silver Spring.

But in interviews after the court's decision, transgender people throughout the Washington region said Montgomery's new law would be most meaningful in making the mundane details of day-to-day life a little bit easier. And they hope that it spurs action in neighboring jurisdictions.

"So I can walk into the office, wear a skirt and not be quite so afraid," said Fay, a transgender woman who lives in Prince George's County. "The little tiny things in life that most of the rest of humanity take for granted, we look at and say, 'That could be a hurdle as tall as the Empire State Building.' "

Opponents of the law, including some parents and religious groups, gathered more than 25,000 signatures to put the measure to a vote. They worried that the law was written so broadly that it could allow a cross-dressing man, for instance, to gain access to locker rooms at health clubs. They also unsuccessfully tried to add exceptions to the law for hiring by religious institutions and schools. To opponents, the court's decision disenfranchised the thousands of people who signed petitions.

But for transgender women such as Robinson, the County Council's passage of the law was a key reason she chose to live in Montgomery when she moved to the area this year from Texas to take a job at the Human Rights Campaign, a gay and transgender civil rights organization.

Before settling on a townhouse in Gaithersburg, Robinson and her family sought to rent an apartment. She worried, unnecessarily as it turned out, that the landlord would want to pull out of the lease upon meeting her. Until the law took effect this week, Robinson said, the landlord could have rejected her application because she is a transgender person.

In the past, Robinson has also worried about taking her four young children to public restrooms at restaurants, because she fears that someone will identify her as a transgender woman and call security.

"You find yourself on guard, and mentally and emotionally prepared for that," Robinson said. "You just never know. For many of us, this kind of thing we fear happens rarely; for others it happens constantly, and the fear of it is very real."

Montgomery followed 13 states, the District and more than 100 other local jurisdictions in passing protections for transgender individuals. Based on clinical and surgical reports, advocacy groups say that as many as 2,000 transgender people live in Montgomery.

In court, the two sides argued technicalities over deadlines and the number of signatures needed to put the law to a vote. The Court of Appeals reversed the lower court ruling that had sided with the law's opponents.

Fay said she hoped the media attention to Montgomery's action -- and the court's decision -- would embolden her county to follow and raise awareness to help demystify transgender people.

"It's invisibility that leads to fears and the icky factor that makes some people react by saying, 'I don't want to deal with that,' " said Fay, arts editor for WAMU radio's Metro Connection, a show she helped launch as Peter Fay in 1995.

In December, when Fay moved back to Maryland from the District after many years, her old driver's license information identified her as male. Fay said she was hassled by a motor vehicle clerk, who refused to change the designation to female.

Schwenke, an ethicist who works in international development, said she was nervous about approaching her employer about her planned transition but relieved to find her fears unfounded. Her office is in Northwest Washington, so she was protected by the District's anti-discrimination law.

"It makes an enormous difference," Schwenke said of the protections. "I was concerned that people would feel that I'd somehow be less competent or less able."

But the protections did not extend to Diane Schroer, a transgender woman who is pursuing a sex discrimination case against the Library of Congress under the Civil Rights Act in U.S. District Court. Schroer's job offer was rescinded the day after she told her prospective employer that she was undergoing the medical transition to become a woman.

Arthur Spitzer, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area, said Schroer's case illustrates why legal protections are necessary. A federal judge is expected to rule in the case soon. "There are people who react in an unthinking way to transgender people," he said.

New Production Photos!

My First Theater Review

‘Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps’ at 7 Stages

By Wendell Brock | Tuesday, August 19, 2008, 02:41 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

THEATER REVIEW. Grade: A-

As a camp counselor in Costa Rica a few years ago, Scott Turner Schofield suffered a serious blow to the head that required a detailed medical examination and extended hospital stay. When his doctor realized the athletic young man had the body of a woman, he thought the kid was just confused.

“Son, you have a terrible brain injury,” the doctor said sternly.

After having a heart-to-heart conversation with another doctor about his quest for a sex change, Schofield was informed that Costa Rica is the cosmetic-surgery capital of Latin America. And the surgeon offered to remove his breasts on the spot.

In his autobiographical solo performance piece, “Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps,” the Atlanta-based artist describes the comic absurdity, social stigma, emotional imperilment and sheer-naked vulnerability of the transgendered life.

Suggesting an image of physical rebirth, the show begins with Schofield emerging from a cocoon of billowing fabric suspended from the ceiling. After a precarious aerial ballet, he bounds to the floor like some newly minted Peter Pan and describes the messy medical details of getting a sex change. In a metaphorical gesture that signifies the total soul-baring to come, he disrobes completely and tapes a sign to the set that says: “No secrets allowed.”

By turns fiercely comic, brutally honest and deeply moving, the 7 Stages show is beautifully written, choreographed and performed. Like some sexually ambiguous Scheherazade, Schofield unspools the action as a series of stories chosen willy-nilly by the audience from a list of numbers assigned to various words (“queer,” “straight,” “butch,” “femme” and so forth). Directed by Steve Bailey, the intermissionless 75-minute pieces feels so artfully balanced and delicately nuanced that it makes you wonder if Schofield really has 127 stories in his repertoire or is just pretending.

From the little girl forced to wear a Minnie Mouse costume when she really wanted to be Mickey to the young man standing in front of a Texas judge begging to have his sexual designation legally changed, from the complicated family relationships to the three suicide attempts, “Becoming a Man” is raw, urgent and honest. Much to his credit, Schofield comes across more as a loveable neighborhood kid bursting with energy and insight than an agenda-waving political zealot.

With great humor and pathos, he describes his alienation from his biological father, relates his adventures as a baby-sitter and describes his close calls with Atlanta cops and skinny-dipping European males. During the performance, he sings “Like a Bird on a Wire” while tethered to a swinging rope, and has a live telephone conversation with his stepfather.

In a democracy that boasts great freedom of expression, transgenderism may be the final frontier of sexual politics. Going from male to female can’t be an easy process, and this 27-year-old artist never pretends that is. Schofield — winner of an off-Broadway Fruitie Award and a prestigious Princess Grace Foundation acting fellowship —says the titular number 127 is part of his Social Security number, and jokes that he wants someone to steal his identity.

As it turns out, the man born as Katie Lauren Kilborn has sculpted a personality so unique that it would be virtually impossible to replicate.

THE 411: 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. 5 p.m. Sunday. Through Sunday. 7 Stages. 1105 Euclid Ave., Little Five Points. 404-523-7647, 7stages.org. (Note: Features adult material and full-frontal nudity.)

Bottom line: One of the year’s most essential theater experiences.

My Atlata Pride 2008 Pictures!

The Pregnant Man

So many of my closest allies have said enough semi-offensive things on this topic, I had to weigh in.

I'm not even going to comment on the "So he's really a woman" nonsense that this has brought to the forefront, though I am glad that the conversation is being had in mainstream circles. Sex and gender are different, how many ways does it need to be said?

"Why would you go through transition to become a man, just to do the most womanly thing a human can do" is the question I keep hearing. Sometimes it's just a curious muse, sometimes it is said with a sneer, as if this person is either an idiot or totally insincere or inauthentic as a (trans)man.

My response is that, once you have gone through transition, you understand on a fundamental level a few things:

1) That sex and gender are totally different things. Your body exists as proof.

2) That gender is fluid and grows as you grow. The same way you're different now from who you were when you were 13. (Most people are, anyway...though not, it seems, David Letterman...)

3) That most of the categories we hold "men" and "women" to are meaningless, since you, obviously can move in and around all of them (even when you're not trans). You have done this, you know well.

4) YOU SHOULD DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE. Most of us even go to the point of almost taking our lives; transition saves us and makes us smarter and more in touch with the courage you need to truly make yourself happy.

That's "why."

Love and kisses, and lots of happiness to you in all the unusual places you might find it.

Turner

ps - And I'm not saying "do anything to be happy." No morally ambiguous arguments about pedophilia or bestiality should arise from that statement. Do what makes you happy, so long as it's safe, sane, and consensual as most reasonable people understand it. You know exactly what I mean if you yourself are a reasonable person. xxoo.

New Book!

Two Truths and a Lie
a memoir written & performed by
Scott Turner Schofield
Price: U.S.$15.00
ISBN-10: 0-9785973-2-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-9785973-2-0

"I am completely mad for Scott Turner Schofield. He is a thrilling, compelling, and downright charming writer and performance artist. And handsome. Did I mention handsome? And smart. Buy this book. Read it.
— Kate Bornstein, author of Hello Cruel World

Homofactus Press proudly announces Two Truths and a Lie,a memoir in the form of three solo plays written and performed by critically-acclaimed solo performer Scott Turner Schofield. From inside the often hilarious—but all too real—moments of his young life on the Homecoming Court and Debutante Ball circuit (in a dress), armed with only a decoder ring and a gifted tongue, Schofield comes out with truly unbelievable stories of a body in search of an identity. By turns slapstick and slap-to-the-face, this drama invites audiences and readers to explore gender, sex, sexuality, and self in their own first person.

"Scott Turner Schofield's storytelling is so honest, his approach so unique, his style so unselfconscious and disarming, that his shows will have you wrapped around his pinkie in no time. I've seen this Southern gent win over the most jaded of New York theater audiences with one wry smile and a perfectly placed raised eyebrow. He's the real thing—and nothing less than a national treasure." — T Cooper, bestselling author of Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes and Some of the Parts

Two Truths and a Lie is the latest work from Homofactus Press, a publishing house dedicated to work by and for trans and genderqueer men. Publisher Jay Sennett is thrilled with Schofield's book: “Scott is both a torchbearer for a rich tradition of queer theater and a catalyst for new work that uniquely describes transmasculine experiences.”

Schofield: "I write my shows with my family in mind: my family who doesn't share and doesn't really understand my transgender and queer identities, but who love me and would rather hear a story than a lecture. I hope that my readers—audiences I may never look in the eye—find something in my book to add to their understanding of the transgender experience, and even better, to their own experiences of their genders, too."

For more information, contact Alan at pr@homofactuspress.com. If you would like to schedule an interview with Scott Turner Schofield or receive a digital review copy of Two Truths and a Lie, please contact Alan at pr@homofactuspress.com.

Homofactus Press | 1271 Shirley | Ypsilanti, MI 48198 | 734-635-1404 | homofactuspress.com

Appalachian State University residency report

Residency Location: Appalachian State University, Boone NC
Dates: 11/7-9/07
Performance: "Underground Transit"

Sponsors: TransAction, Office of Multicultural Student Development, [MANY OTHERS...]

Residency Schedule and Activities:

11/7: Arrive. 1pm: Class talk to English Composition class. Elizabeth Wilson, instructor.
3pm: Class talk to English Composition class. Elizabeth Wilson, instructor.
5pm: Class talk to English Composition class. Elizabeth Wilson, instructor.

11/8: 11am: Class talk to English Literature class. Elizabeth West, instructor.
1pm: Class talk to English Composition class. Elizabeth West, instructor.
3pm: Class talk to English Composition class. Elizabeth West, instructor.

Class talks stats:
Average attendance: 20 students

Impressions: As usual, some classes were more quiet than others. I regret that I did not perform in one class, I only lectured, and this was a mistake - performance is what hooks them!

One Composition class comprised of Criminal Justice majors who were initially very resistant (snickering, closed body language, text messaging), but who became very engaged when the focus turned to how understanding transgender identity and issues would benefit them as police officers and prison administrators. We discussed the current state of affairs in many jails and prisons (prisoners are not administered hormones, are often victims of abuse and assault) and looked for ways that they could approach this issue when they become a part of the prison system. I encouraged them to focus their research on trans issues in the prison-industrial complex for their upcoming mid-terms.

In the Literature class, I focused on the difference between theory and story: how labels do not create empathy or understanding, but stories do.

In all of my class talks at Appalachian State, I was surprised to find men leading most of the conversation. In most other places, men stay quiet while women ask questions and lead conversation. I noticed that both men and women ask the same questions; however, at App, I will note that the physics of what transpeople do in bed came up every time (this is a rare topic other places)!

Feedback:
"I asked my students the next day what they thought of your presentation. They were pretty uncomfortable -- and that's a good thing! Usually they don't remember anything we covered in the last class. After you, they were still present with the ideas you brought up, because they're still digesting them. I was really pleased to see them working so hard on the concepts you brought up."

11/9/07, 7pm: Community Workshop at Unitarian Universalist Congregation on gender oppression in Boone, NC and Appalachian State.

Attendance: 25. Comprised of TransAction and SAGA members; University administrators, faculty, and staff; UUC members, and Boone residents.

Impressions: A very liberal/radical/progressive crowd. Business owners were invited to discuss ways of making the community safe for people of all genders, but none attended.

I became uncomfortable during the conversation when we started using "they" and "them" to refer to the white, conservative Christians that make up a large part of Boone's community. I asked the participants to consider that "they" often talk about "us" with the same distaste, which usually makes for bad situations. "We are Them, They are Us," I said, and we shifted to discussing positive ways "we" can approach "them" to create a safe community for everybody. My partner, Carey Martin, brought up the Femme Mafia example: this group approached business owners and created visibility by holding regular monthly meetings in different restaurants, cafes, and clubs. They educated the establishments about femme identity by just showing up and patronizing the business. TransAction thought this would be a good idea for their meetings.

Feedback:

"I was glad you brought up the Us/Them thing. We do need to talk about things differently."

"Great facilitation."

11/9: 3:30-5pm: Workshop: Strange Bedfellows - Greeks, Jocks, and Queers.
Location: Grandfather Mountain Ballroom, Student Union Building
Attendance: 100. Comprised mostly of members of the Kappa Alpha fraternity as well as 2 sorority members (didn't record which sororities). TransAction and SAGA members attended in-full. Due to peak football and basketball season, only 3 athletes attended.

Impressions: Tough crowd at first! I feared I might lose all of the many Greeks who showed up as I introduced words and topics about sex, gender, and sexuality. I illustrated examples of how Greeks, Jocks, and Queers 1) each deal with similar (mis)impressions of their groups, 2) are actually all valuable leaders on campus, and 3) have many characteristics in common, and the crowd warmed. Splitting into small groups allowed each sector to interact with groups they might otherwise never connect with and cemented our path to getting to know one another. By the end of the session, plans were in the making for inter-group service projects and fund raising dinners.

Feedback:
"I never had the chance to talk to a gay person before."

"I never thought that I might be part of the problem as a queer person, that I might be causing the tension between Greeks, Jocks, and Queers. I always felt like a victim, but it's true, I have a lot of prejudices myself, and that's just as unfair."

"We can't change the campus climate overnight here. But this was a really good first step. We can bring this back to our chapters and try to make change in small ways. That would be a big thing, actually."

Performance: "Underground Transit"

Date: 11/09/07 (Friday night, 7pm)

Location: Grandfather Mountain Ballroom, Student Union Building

Attendance: 120

Impressions: Excellent crowd! Comprised mostly of people I hadn't seen before, as well as many class and workshop members. I couldn't believe so many people came out on a Friday night to a queer theater show, but that just goes to show that class talks and workshops really bring folks out! The performance went well. The Q&A after was in-depth. My mom and partner attended, which allowed questions about family and relationships to take on a deeper meaning -- their presence "authenticated" my answers.

Feedback:
"Thank you for doing this show. I feel I understand myself better because you said many things I have thought myself."

"I'm gay, and I have a lot of problems with transgender people. I just can't understand how you can be a man, but not a man, or a woman, but not a woman. I struggle with it because I want to be supportive, but I just don't get it. Tonight I understood it. You're a man, there's nothing else to it. And you have breasts and you look good in a skirt, but you're definitely a man. I get it now."

From Belgrade pt II

I'm beginning to think in images, the way they do at DAH. Seeing random stills of everyday motion, beauty and terror life and connections in any moment. English being a second or third language to the women of this theater, they have many similar phrases; they often say "In one moment..." and I considered it a verbal tic. Now I think of it as an aesthetic: there is only one moment, one at a time.

Images so far:

Sky preparing for storm, clouds darkening one half, the other half still bright day.



Widow women wearing black.




Widow woman wearing black bent over in a seat, holding tiny bouquets of wildflowers wrapped in white paper out in front of her, not looking up.




Very elderly people everywhere. They don't hide here, they live as history and present on their own streets.



Young girl selling roses on a restaurant patio. The Maitre'd takes them away from her, shoos her out. The look on her face as she stands there, unable to leave without her roses, unable to take them with her. The anger that does not form tears as she looks at the Maitre'd.

The well-fed man who flounces in after she is gone, selling roses, undisturbed.



Heat lightning in the sky, different from lightening when there is the actual chance of rain.




New buildings, old buildings; shiny capitalist buildings, crumbling socialist blocs; buildings with roman numerals almost as old as the numerals themselves.

The man killed on his futuristic, shiny motorbike by a lumbering old two-tone truck. The men in black jackets picking up his white shoes: where's the other one? Oh, here, under here. The pool of blood that didn't run even though it pooled on a hill. The people watching, then walking away. The way the old woman's hand flew to her mouth magnetically as she approached the scene.



The old man with huge glasses on the tram, shooing back with his hands cars that had pulled too far into the intersection as we glide past.



The way ladies smile when a boy tourist gives up his seat. They hold eyes with him.

Fields of sunflowers under morning blue and afternoon red skies, just like in those posters.





The majestic width and smooth solid depth of the Danube cutting through the countryside.



Street theater flanked by huge, delighted crowds.

Theater that builds images so slowly and subtly that the gutpunch ending creeps up impossibly.




And now a story of a moment:
On the bus heading back from town, after shops close and people head home, the tram is filling with gloom and the bright of steetlights just turning on. My iPod starts shuffling through songs I don't care for and I take it out as I stand on the top step in front of the middle door. An elderly man with white hair and huge, thick, brown-rimmed glasses stares into the glowing screen from the step below, then looks up at me.
Mobil? He asks, then points at the iPod, says sure: Mobil.
No, I tell him, but how do I tell him? iPod, I say, I'm foreign, it's foreign, why try to explain?
Mobil? He asks again. I take the earpiece hanging at my neck and hold it to his ear. In this moment our faces are less than 6 inches apart, we are connected by sound and wire, and I am shocked by the electricity of a stranger, having not come so intimately near to another person outside of school in 3 weeks.
"Ah! Muzik!" He says, and we beam with understanding. He gives me the thumbs-up sign. "Very good. Have a nice day," he says, as the doors part and he steps away.

From Serbia with Love and Thanks

This trip began in community. I asked my 600 "closest friends" to help send me to Belgrade with small donations to help fill the gap my early-year health crisis created in my funding. A huge group responded, sending anywhere from $5 to $200, raising me to over my goal of $900 within two weeks.

Thank you all so much, those of you who donated. My thanks are a constant refrain in my head as I learn so much here.

I departed from JFK in New York City on June 9th, arriving early in the morning on June 10th in Amsterdam, where I passed a 6-hour layover. I point this out because it felt like a full 6 hours; in Amerstam the speakers never go silent and they also chastise you: "So-and-so and So-and-so departing for Wherever: you are delaying your flight. Please go immediately to your gate. We will begin offloading your luggage." It's not a threat--they're doing it! And this is constant! At least every 3 minutes, somebody gets publicly booted from their connection to far-off lands. First the browbeating melody raised my eyebrows, then it became funny, then annoying, then (as I tried my best to nap), taunting. Finally my plane to Paris arrived and whisked me off over Western Europe with all of its cities' symmetry slicing the land in gorgeous patterns, hypnotizing me to sleep.

Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport is a maze. I was so grateful for my long layover. Finally in my terminal, I was shocked at the European advertising: very naked women selling very pretty things by using English swearwords. I couldn't take a picture because of the glare, but the best ad, for what I'm not sure, maybe jewelry or jeans? Those were the only coverings the model wore...except for her tattoos, which hung between her clavicles reading LOVE ROCK FUCK. I love Europe.

My plane to Belgrade felt like a party bus. Packed full, everybody chatted, yelled down the aisles to friends. They served us tasty sandwiches as we sweated without air conditioning on the old plane. Below the Swiss Alps still sparkled with snow, then gave way to flat lands until finally I saw the either the Danube or the Sava, Belgrade's two rivers, cutting through the fields.

Sanja, my colleague from last year's Youth Creates summer camp at 7 Stages, met me at the airport at 8pm on June 10th, 1pm at home in the States. I had been traveling for over 19 hours, so clearly the best thing to do was go have dinner with the rest of my classmates.
We went to a restaurant called Dačo (pronounced DA-cho) on Ave. Patrice Lumumbe. The roads in Belgrade constantly change names depending on the ruling political party; this road is one of the last left still honoring a communist (socialist?) hero. In a style I would call "Nostalgic Yugoslavian" the restaurant had an amazing rough-hewn log porch, roofed in, with Yugoslavian (now, I guess they would be Slovenian, Croation, Serbian, and Montenegran, and Macedonian) fabrics hanging from the rafters. They served amazing food, all tapas-style, with schnapps and wine; a much easier and better combination than you might imagine, the way they do it here, sweet and intoxicating but not overpowering or hangover-inspiring. Whether through my hunger or just the merits of the food alone, g*d it was good.



Finally to my apartment. I had expected a home-stay situation, but a friend of the school keeps a rental apartment, and I was lucky enough to score a place in it with two other students. A 5-minute walk from the school and in the center of everything, I am grateful not to have to negotiate the (quick and well-run but) always cram-packed trams and busses every day.

My apartment. I sleep in the living room.

The next day, the 6th International School of DAH Teatar opened for class. The schedule is similar every day: we arrive, stretch, find our "central line", practice Chi-Gong, and train with the "3 Steps"- about an hour of moving to a 1-2-3 beat. It's amazingly difficult and athletic, but teaches you so many ways of moving. Dijana Milosevic, one of DAH's directors, says "Anything can be your ally or your obstacle, but still you must perform with it." So far I have dealt with 85 degree heat (no A/C here), blisters, and blisters on my blisters over just the general muscle soreness and fatigue; one week out, I'm happy to report I'm over it--I have pushed through to the other side, and my feet are mostly healed!

After 3 Steps we do vocal training for about an hour and a half. As an American, my voice lives mostly in my throat and nose, sometimes my chest. Sanja is teaching me to find a voice low in my stomach, a frustrating process, but powerful and vital to me not only as an actor but as a person who is always striving to "find my voice" in every aspect of the term. To round out the day, we work on creating precise physical scores (almost like dance, but expressive in a way that works for theater) and blindfolded movement training, used by Jrszy Grotowski, to help build spatial awareness.

Okay, so that's all very detailed and academic, but what does it have to do with the deeply moving political theater these artists make? On the first day, Dijana Milosevic gave her lecture "The Role of the Artist in the Dark Times" in which she described DAH's 16-year history, beginning with the breakup of the former Yugoslavia and through the U.S.-led NATO bombings in 1991. Through the political loss of her homeland, through the following social unrest, to even working in a building targeted by the bombers (the school in which the theater is located had government antennae on the roof), Dijana, Maya, Sanja and colleagues came together every day to do this specific training in the service of their work.

"Many days, the training was stronger than we were. Leaving our kids and our partners while air raid sirens sounded to spend 6 hours making art does not seem logical, and even we did not think we could do it. But we came together and made space for the discipline, and the art itself that we began making became a focus and a shelter."

Dijana quoted Bertold Brecht who asked "Will there be singing in the dark times? Yes there will be singing, about the dark times." Brecht's singing became the group's first public show, which they performed environmentally around the central square of Belgrade, black angels with wire wings speaking for the first time out loud the questions and resentments of a country at war. The video footage is incredible: stunned crowds following, children enthralled by the spectacle and grown men crossing themselves at the sight. Usually, when I see environmental political theater, it's agit-prop--effigies of Presidents or activists singing clever slogans instead of shouting them--and usually when I see this street theater I am one of "the choir" of people paying attention while everybody else studiously ignores it.

(I feel a huge split in U.S. activist culture where performance must be agit-prop activist or else it is considered "unuseful" to--or just generally not considered at all in--the aims of whatever agenda we have. In this way I feel outside of my own activism, having to steal people away, unde the guise of "entertainment" to my performance space to try and make a real political connection outside of the arena of "real politics.")

Dijana credits the artistic discipline of her actors for their popular audience's response: Eg, they paid attention. It affected them. They gave voice to the thoughts that were being studiously silenced by government and society alike. Because the work was not agit-prop in content, and because the actors created such deeply personal stories with their movement and text, the work worked. They didn't tell the audience what or how to think: they let the audience think and feel with them, bringing them into the art. DAH took their theater back into the theater and created more shows, as an ensemble and as individuals, that touches audiences world-wide in the same way.

This is what I am learning: the nuts and bolts of making work that engages society through deeply personal understandings. I find myself finally in a community who understands by experience just how significantly this kind of art can change people. It feels amazing to have this as our starting point; in the next two weeks this will only take deeper, smarter hold, and I can bring it back to my community -- Y'all--because you helped me.



Views of the Sava River and Kalemegdan, an ancient Roman outpost at the confluence of the Save and Danube, now a realxed and fun nightclub.

A boutique with a sense of humor
in this formerly Communist country....

Mecklenburg County Censorship Debacle

Check out this link

http://www.homofactuspress.com/2006/06/scott_turner_schofield_censore.htm

for news on my first round with state-sponsored censorship!

Thanks muchly to Jay for a really nice blog on it.

I'm also now allowed to inform folks that I will be appearing in Jay's anthology! Due out in August...check out Homofactus Press for more!