"under :30" 2010

adn.com | Not-so-average Alaskans focus on self in 'Under 30':

Quirky 'Under 30' monologues are more akin to lectures

NOT THEATRICAL: Use of notes by actors was a bit too distracting.

By MIKE DUNHAM
mdunham@adn.com

Published: January 2nd, 2010 09:27 PM 
Last Modified: January 2nd, 2010 09:28 PM

The current round of "Under 30" continues Out North's 16-year tradition of quirky and personal performance pieces written and performed by local folks. While a few of these short works -- the title refers to the expectation that each "act" will run no more than half an hour -- have featured ensemble acting or choreography over the years, most have been soliloquies. In the case of the "Under 30" presentations that opened on New Year's night and continue through next weekend, all four are monologues.

These are not theatrical monologues, however. The word "lecture" is more accurate. There seemed to be a lot of reliance on notes, sometimes built into the script, sometimes to the point of distraction, and only the most rudimentary non-verbal elements.

Don Decker's "Fear No Fear" opened with the speaker at a lectern, talking about things people fear, like death and public speaking. Answering the question "Where do we draw the line?" was a video of Decker doodling silently on a dry-erase board, making lines, loops, squiggles, designs, employing time-lapse techniques to create animation effects. This was probably the most beautiful part of the night; I was reminded of Alexander Calder's "Circus."

This was followed by another video, in which Decker donned phoney googly eyes and gums, pretended he was a night club comic -- a profession with no obvious fear of public speaking -- and delivered a series of unspeakably lame jokes like: "I wanted to get my G.E.D., but I couldn't spell it." This segued into an imagined encounter with Jesus on an airplane and a series of questions: "Are there really harps in heaven? Or is that just string theory?"

In "Letters to Ho Chi Minh," Van Le expanded on the intensely personal memoir about her family's escape from South Vietnam, initially developed for "The Women of ..." at UAA last February. Details of indignities dealt to her mother and father by the conquering North Vietnamese, the horrors of escaping the country by smuggler boat, being looted by pirates, refugee camps, eventual asylum in snowy British Columbia and subsequent visits back to Vietnam were interspersed with (pretty) songs and Le's questions to the long-dead revolutionary leader.

Why did he wage a war that left the people he claimed to be helping poorer, less educated, sicker, displaced and dead, she asked. Who were these officials for whom bribery trumped ideology? Why was liberation followed by such repression and enslavement?

In the end she has exhausted herself, venting her anger to a "ghost," unable to continue struggling over historical events that she can barely remember. On the other hand, she notes that her mother still considers the war worth fighting.

Jonathan Lang's "Radio" also addressed his personal formation -- but instead of war and exile, his touchstone was the more pleasant device of Alaska broadcasting. He spoke of living in Valdez when Anchorage's KBYR was the only station received in that town. The peculiar messages of "Caribou Clatters" on Glennallen's KCAM. He recalled the excitement of KWHL signing on. Herb Shaindlin's "Desperate and Dateless" show on KFQD. The cautionary tale of KMXS disc jockey David Taylor, shot by listener Kathy Hodnefield whom, Lang reported, Taylor married before she had completed her prison term.

In a sense, the piece was a pretty plain love song to music radio in the pre-digital days, with a flurry of quick hits and three-minute segments, but no distinct point, a bit like the medium itself.

Mark Muro's "Apocalypse When I Get Around to It" or "Civil War III, Part 1," was simple storytelling. It began with a description of how economic signals can be read in toy airplanes and morphed into the comic report of a recent road trip on which Muro and his politically opposite brother attempted to reprogram one another.

Those attending this year's "Under 30" presentations who have seen previous shows may want to take a look at the exhibit of photos and memorabilia from former "Under 30s" on display in adjacent gallery space.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2010/01/02/1077063/quirky-under-30-monologues-are.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

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Out North's New Artistic Director

Out North’s art launch

Jamie Lang photo

Posted: Thursday, September 9, 2010 12:00 am

By Dawnell Smith

When Scott Turner Schofield took over as the new executive artistic director of Out North, he listened first, acted second. He began by holding a meeting with artists to find out their needs and desires, passions and ideas. They he worked with others to figure out how to make things happen.

Artists say they need opportunities, he says. “To that end, we are offering several new programs for artistic developments: Brand Spankin' Drama, Fresh Film, Thought Current, The Sound Stage, and DJ Days,” and much more, not just to offer something for artists at every level and in every genre but also to allow them “to practice, develop and collaborate.”

A performance artist previously based in Georgia, Schofield knows the rigors and rewards of making art. He first came to Alaska as a performer who spent time working with kids at McLaughlin.

“The experience of making art in a context like McLaughlin's showed me something I knew but had never articulated, “ he says. “Art has the power to truly set a person free, free from your past and the problems of the present, free to express in positive, constructive, life-affirming ways the part of ourselves that is entirely individual and uniquely powerful.”

When given the chance to come back as acting artistic director in December of 2009, Schofield saw it as an extended vacation with lots of opportunity for professional growth.

“I really thought I would only work for six weeks, have a great time, and get back to making art,” he says, “but Out North and the community of audience and artists around it—who are among the most intelligent, supportive, and talented I have seen in eight years of touring—stopped me in my tracks. I felt like I could have an even more powerful artistic experience here than on the road doing my own work.”

So he stayed on. Who knows whether his stint will turn into years or decades, but you can bet he won’t leave without making a mark. His artistic work includes one-man shows that explore transgender identity, such as “Debutante Balls” and “Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps,” both of which showed at Out North.

The community-minded art house cultivates art and artists by bringing performers like Schofield up, and by coordinating local productions, and partnering with schools and other nonprofits. A performance season always includes workshops, monologues, plays, readings and other events by local, national and international artists.

Out North is gearing up now with an art show and several events where you can meet Schofield and find out more about the coming season.

First, check out the quirky, homey art exhibit and fundraiser, “Redux: An Installation of Re-Emerging Art,” on Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. This collection of retro-art ranges from wildflower paintings and Alaskana to 1960s furniture, a drinking glass installation, old toys and even a gold fish.

The show opens with a Mad Men-era costume party with fondue and drinks. The show’s art pieces range in price from a few bucks to over a C-note, and the furnishings cost about the same. As Schofield pointed out, the frames and matting make some of these pieces a steal, even if the art doesn’t sing to you.

The proceeds will benefit Out North's emerging gallery exhibits, of which Hope Studios and Begich Middle School are major partners.

The day after, Out North will host auditions for one of its 2010/2011 season productions, “Reefer Madness the Musical.” Monologues, cold readings and singing will take place from 1 to 3 p.m., followed by the dance auditions. Rehearsals begin a week later and the musical’s run begins the first week of November.

The following Thursday, September 16, Out North will hold its Season 26 Opening Party and fundraiser with previews of the upcoming season, along with beer, food and a silent auction. Tickets cost $30 and help fund Out North’s arts and education programs. This year, the art house will sell season tickets in three genres: theater, film and cultural exploration.

And finally, perhaps most exciting to some, Out North will host community-wide auditions for Out North and Perseverance Theatre from 5 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday, September 22. Local performers will get about ten minutes to introduce themselves to Schofield and Art Rotch, the artistic director of Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, along with Anchorage directors Jon Minton and Christian Heppenstall.

Turns out that Perseverance wants to start an Anchorage-based company. Yep, I buried the lead, but only because it belongs down here after all the hard work of listening.

Anyone who wants a part in Out North’s 26th season should show up for the community-wide auditions or forever hold their peace. Find out more at www.outnorth.org.

Out North’s art launch - Anchorage Press: Arts:

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Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps review

The Rice Thresher > Entertainment

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

By Andi Gomez

Published: Thursday, February 26, 2009

Updated: Sunday, March 20, 2011 18:03

Nudity, beer chugging, acrobatics and an explosive, menstrual pad-launching rendition of Hedwig and the Angry Inch's "The Origin of Love" - sound interested?Everyone should be. If more people started going to shows like Scott Turner Schofield's Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps, the world would be a more accepting place. We would see a society in which we seek to understand rather than to exile, and more people would be prepared to accept and help fellow human beings in their struggle to figure out who they are, regardless of sexuality and gender differentials.

Schofield is an award-winning performer and transgender activist who has toured around the country since 2001. He has performed two other solo acts: Debutante Balls and Underground Transit, and his book Two Truths and a Lie has been nominated for two Lambda Literary Awards. Last weekend he was at Houston's DiverseWorks with his newest performance, Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps.

As I drove over to DiverseWorks last Saturday, I had no idea what I was about to experience. I had no idea I would be watching a woman-turned-man get naked in front of me on a stage within the first 10 minutes of a performance. (He only stayed naked for about five minutes.) 

I like to think of myself as a very accepting person, but I'm ashamed to admit that before this show, that mental image may have made me squirm a little.

But after it happened, I was actually really surprised by how, well, natural it felt.

Hilarious, emotional, explosive - and just a bit heart-wrenching at times - Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps is so successful because you not only feel like you are witnessing someone's private transgender experience, but you actually feel like you are inside of the experience with him.

The key to the success of this performance is its intimacy. From the set to the audience participation to the conversational ingenuity of Scott's portrayal, everything about his performance invites the audience into his world while forcing us to question the mainstream culture that surrounds us.

I'll start with the set, because it strikes me as magnificently effective at constructing an atmosphere in which the audience feels like it's being let in on something personal. Simplistic but intimate, a stripped mattress lays on the floor and above it hangs what looks like a crimson cloth cocoon. Three triangular white drapes hang at the foot and sides of the bed; a screen is placed at the back. The audience sits on three sides of the stage.

All of a sudden the cocoon starts to move and Scott comes out, weaving his body up and down and around the symbolically blood-colored cloth that now flows to the center of the mattress as a recording of his voice narrates the moment of his conception. Finally, Scott jumped to the floor. He addressed the audience, throwing the white drapes to all three sides of the stage, bringing everyone in the room into what he calls his fort, much like the ones he used to make as a kid. He asked the people in the last rows to pull the drapes back so that they form a straight line, cracking a joke about how "tight and straight is what we value in this culture." He explained that the fort is a safe place to sexually explore and then promises to the audience that "once we're in the fort, I'll tell you everything."

The title Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps refers to a decoder ring that is projected onto the screen at the head of the bed. Something like a pie chart, each chunk of the decoder ring is identified with a number and holds heavily-loaded word such as "butch," "gay," "stealth" and "feminine." Scott explained that when combined, these numbers and their words tell about 127 little bits of his identity. He has a story for each one. However, the title is slightly deceptive, as he does not have time to tell 127 stories but rather has the audience request certain numbers and he responds with many stories as he can within his hour on stage.

Scott's stories range from downright comical, to shockingly painful, to thought provoking. Story 47, for example, combines the words "man" and "stealth" and he muses over what penis he would have genetically inherited had he been born with a male body. Then he pulls out three soft packs (attachable penises that create a bulge under pants) of different sizes. He begins to walk around the stage, juggling the three penises. He stops, turns to the crowd, gives a mischievous smile and states, "I'd be a shower, not a grower."

Towards the end of the show this character, who for the past hour had awed the audience with his charisma and humor in discussing such a complicated topic, reveals his insecure side. We hear some recordings of a phone conversation in which a friend of Scott's explains to him that it is all right to not know how to be a man because the "idea of being a man is just an idea" and that "you happen any way you choose." The room gets a little darker and Scott quietly explains, "My body tells my truth. but sometimes the story is so big I have to lie just a little, and it hurts just a little." We get an image of him sitting in the dark with a syringe, "morphing" himself as he continues to describe the concern he has to live with: that the hormone injections he takes regularly may have negative health implications in the future.

The show closes on an open-ended note, as he says, "I haven't figured out the end. . All I can do is be a man, and know when to leave."

I can't express the impact this performance had on me. It has certainly made me ponder what constitutes gender, acceptance and how the constant evolution of the individual in personal and public spaces is something that we all go through in our own ways, yet we tend to shut off the process of understanding evolutions different from our own.Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps was only showing in Houston last weekend, so I wish I could have shared this earlier, but I recommend that you go see him if you ever get the chance.


Andi Gomez is a Lovett College Senior.

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

ALA Releases 2009 Rainbow List

If you’re in need of some well-written and wonderfully illustrated gay-themed books, you’re in luck. The Rainbow Project has just released the 2009 Rainbow List, featuring books with authentic and significant gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered/questioning (GLBTQ) content for youth from birth through age 18.

This year’s bibliography includes 34 titles, published in the last 18 months, and represents a broad range of GLBTQ experiences. Most titles are recommended for teens, including four titles published for adults. Two picture books, two middle-grade novels, two graphic books (a novel and a biography), one short story collection, one translation, and five nonfiction titles are also represented.

The titles on this year’s list offer young readers rich characters and portray the full spectrum of youth and family experiences. Primary characters are gay, lesbian, transgendered, questioning, and straight, and they grapple with varying degrees of acceptance and prejudice from their friends, families, and communities, as well as from themselves.

Four titles stood out to the selection committee as especially deserving of recognition for their characters, stories, quality of writing, and illustration:

Down to the Bone (HarperTeen, 2008) by Mayra Lazara Dole; 10,000 Dresses(Seven Stories Press, 2008), by Marcus Ewert and illustrated by Rex Ray; Last Exit to Normal (Knopf, 2008) by Michael Harmon; and Skim (Groundwood, 2008) by Mariko Tamaki with art by Jillian Tamaki.

The list is a joint partnership between the American Library Association’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table and Social Responsibilities Round Table.

More information can be found on the Rainbow Project blog, MySpace, and Facebook (search: rainbow list).

Rainbow Final List – 2009 Picture Books 
Uncle Bobby’s Wedding.(Putnam) by Sarah Brannen
10,000 Dresses (Seven Stories Press) by Marcus Ewert

Middle/Early Young Adult Fiction 
No Castles Here (Random) by A.C.E. Bauer
After Tupac & D Foster (Putnam) by Jacqueline Woodson

Young Adult Fiction 
Girl from Mars (Groundwood) by Shelley Tanaka.
Debbie Harry Sings in French (Holt) by Meagan Brothers
Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List (Knopf) by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Down to the Bone (HarperTeen) by Mayra Lazara Dole
Big Big Sky (Red Deep Press) by Kristyn Dunnion
Suicide Notes (HarperTeen) by Michael Thomas Ford
Fancy White Trash (Viking) by Marjetta Geerling
Two Parties, One Tux, and a Very Short Film About The Grapes of Wrath (Bloomsbury) by Steven Goldman
Map of Ireland (Scribner) by Stephanie Grant
Nothing Pink (Front St) by Mark Hardy
Last Exit to Normal (Knopf) by Michael Harmon
M+O 4EVR (Houghton) by Tonya Cherie Hegamin
Another Kind of Cowboy (HarperTeen) by Susan Juby
My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, & Fenway Park (Dial) by Steve Kluger
Out of the Pocket (Dutton) by Bill Konigsberg
Gravity (Orca) by Leanne Lieberman
My Tiki Girl (Dutton) by Jennifer McMahon
Belinda’s Obsession (Lobster) by Patricia Penny
Sword Masters (Dragon Moon) by Selina Rosen
Crossover (Orca) by Jeff Rud
Entrances and Exits (Simon Pulse) by Paul Ruditis
Skim (Groundwood) by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
What They Always Tell Us (Delacorte) by Martin Wilson
Love & Lies: Marisol’s Story (S & S) by Ellen Wittlinger

Nonfiction 
Gay America: Struggle for Equality (Abrams/Amulet) by Linas Alsenas
The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy (St. Martin’s) by Robert Leleux
Sex Variant Woman: The Life of Jeannette Howard Foster (DaCapo) by Joanne Passet
Two Truths and a Lie: A Memoir (Homofactus) by Scott Turner Schofield

Awkward and Definition (S & S) by Ariel Schrag

Writing Sample: Dialogue

"Sleep While I Drive"

10 minute play

2 characters

1 male (race/ethnicity unspecified - "whiteboy" reference can be an insult)

1 female (Native American and/or Latina heritage)

Jim and Ana take a tour into the unknown in a 1959 Cadillac, and talk sex, porn, love, and sociology.

Commissioned by and workshopped at the 2009 Brave New Works Festival, Emory University.

You Can Sleep While I Drive

'Becoming a Man' all powerful | ajc.com

photo by Alain Fonterey

By Wendell Brock

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

THEATER REVIEW

“Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps”

Grade: A-

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.

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 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,” etc.). Directed by Steve Bailey, the intermissionless 75-minute piece 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 lovable 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 female to male 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.

Originally posted here: 'Becoming a Man' all powerful | ajc.com
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Two Truths and a Lie On Sale Now!

HomofactusPRESS

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE

Scott Turner Schofield

15.00 BUY NOW 

Two Truths and a Lie is a memoir passing as three solo plays written and performed by Scott Turner Schofield.

Details

Two Truths and a Lie is a memoir passing as three solo plays written and performed by Scott Turner Schofield. From inside 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.

“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, Hello, Cruel World

“Scott is amazingly clever at drawing people into his perspective with a light and engaging style, yet his work really challenges us to rethink our set perspectives on gender.” - Robert Rosenberg, Director of Before Stonewall

ISBN

978-0978597320

Publication Year

2008

Binding

Perfect

Pages

128

Format

Text with 6 photographs

Retail Price

US $15.00 \ UK £8.00 \ EURO €12.00 \ CAN $15.75 \ AUS $17.00

Designer

Cover: Scott Turner Schofield/Book: Jay Sennett

Author Details

Scott Turner Schofield began his performance art career working as a research assistant to Holly Hughes and Carmelita Tropicana at the WOW Café in 2000. Now a full-time performance artist, educator, and producer, he tours his acclaimed one-trannie shows, “Underground Transit”, “Debutante Balls”, and “Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps” nationwide.