Chosen family

Yesterday evening I went to Royal Oak to see the latest production by Stagecrafters, a community theater troupe. The show is Southern Comfort, book and lyrics by Dan Collins and music by Julianne Wick Davis. The plot is based on the real life story of Robert Ead, a transgender man in rural Georgia. He creates his own family of transgender people, a group that gets together once a month. The regulars are Jackson, Melanie, and Sam. There’s some rough feelings in the group when Lola is brought in as Robert’s girlfriend and again when Jackson brings Carly.

We see encounters with modern medicine and its prejudices when Robert is treated for ovarian cancer. Most of them have had top surgery – adding or removing breasts to be able to pass in regular society. They debate whether to get bottom surgery – actually changing genitals. There are encounters with biological family who aren’t accepting of their current appearance and a tiny bit of joy from a father, who used the new name while rejecting his child. Lola frets about still needing to be John in the office.

Much of the second act is taken up with attending Southern Comfort, an annual transgender event in Atlanta. This an important event because attendees know they will be safe, understood, and supported. And the major part of the event is the ball, where they can have the high school prom they didn’t have when young.

It’s a wonderfully accepting story. Alas, this is community theater, so acting is not much above adequate. The singing was quite good. At the beginning I thought Lola was the weakest character. But she also showed the most character growth and did a fine job with her two important solos.

In addition to the six primary characters the show included five “storytellers.” These were actors who were the backup singers on songs and who played additional characters, such as parents and doctors. I first heard about the show because one of the regulars at Ruth Ellis Center, where I volunteer, is a transgender woman cast as one of the storytellers. At last night’s show there was a large contingent of transgender people from the Center to support her.

For once I went to opening night so this time when I tell you about it there is still two weekends to see the show.