On Friday, October 26th, while most HCBU-ers were getting into the Halloween spirit, I attended Drag Poetry Night, hosted by BU’s Speak for Yourself and Center for Gender, Sexuality, and Activism. Proceeds of the event were given to Boston Alliance for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth (BAGLY), an organization that creates and offers services (Pride Proms!) to youth GLBT of Boston. The event featured other campus performance groups in order to break the barriers of sexuality and binary gender perspectives. The most conspicuous way this barrier was broken was through the entertainers’ attire: pink wigs framed many faces, short-hemmed dresses revealed countless hairy legs, and baseball caps concealed long locks. It wasn’t long before the performances empowered me to look past these “costumes” and surrender to the unique expressions of spoken word, improvisation, musical theatre, and more.
To start off the show, some members of BU’s improvisation group, Liquid Fun stepped on stage. They demonstrated their improv skills in exercises called “Pan Left, Pan Right” and “Free Form.” The audience had a great response to political jargon (ahem, “binders of women”) and Star Wars references.
Before the next group went onstage, some Open Mic volunteers shared original poetry and songs. The poems ranged from an intense pantoum titled “Original Sin” to a tongue-in-cheek free verse called “Coming Out As a Lesbian”. Snaps commenced from all over the audience. One of my favorite poems of the night, “Stargazing” recounted a “first queer kiss” experience. The rhythm of the poem was so beautifully articulated; the content was so amorous.
The stage was then cleared for the next performance: BU’s Stage Troupe presented a scene from their upcoming show, Diana Son’s Stop Kiss. In the show, two women initially meet through a friend of a friend, but realize they are attracted to one another. The play will open on November 1st at 8 PM in the Student Theater at Agganis Arena, and will run until the 3rd. I encourage you and your friends to attend!
One of BU’s theatre organizations, BU On Broadway (BUOB), performed Elvis’ “A Little Less Conversation” from their upcoming musical All Shook Up! The show features Elvis songs in conjunction with a modern take of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The vocals were superb and the performers really made me want to dance! BUOB will perform All Shook Up! from November 8th to November 10th at the Tsai Performance Center.
After some more Open Mic volunteers protested the objectivity of women, sang songs about “growing up as a boy named Sue”, and presented original pieces about the disparities between animal and human reproduction, the most powerful act got on stage. The act was “Group Poetry” from three members of Speak for Yourself. In unison, the members said, “Gender is”. The members then identified, one by one, various definitions of gender. Their words echoed on stage and in my ears. Their outfits, one by one, were falling to the floor. By the end, the secondary sex characteristics of each member were the only things covered up with fabric. They then finished their poem by saying, respectively:
“I am more than my sexuality.”
“I am more than my body.”
“I am more than my gender.”
I didn’t think Drag Poetry Night would make me emotional, but this poem really did me in. The audience and I gave these students a standing ovation for what seemed like an eternity. They deserved it. Differences in gender, sexuality and/or body types do not entitle us to mistreat someone. They entitle us to respect and curiosity, but definitely not maliciousness. What better way to teach this lesson than a Thespian gathering?
For more information on these student groups and organizations, visit their sites and twitters: http://bustagetroupe.com/
http://www.buonbroadway.com/
http://www.bu.edu/cgsa/
http://speakbu.tumblr.com/
http://blogs.bu.edu/liquidfun/
Photo from Catherine Ring Photography.