"Playwright Mikki Gillette—described once as 'the Joan of Arc of the trans community in Portland theatre' by actor and critic Bobby Burmea—sets the work in the lead-up to and immediate aftermath of the 1966 Compton's Cafeteria Riot. We're dropped into the lives of four trans people practically begging the world to care about their pain, but with very different ways of approaching a brighter future."
"First comes Haley (Ethan Fieder), a blonde proto-doomer whose guiding principle is 'keep your head down and just live the life you're given,' which, as we learn, is a defense mechanism. On the opposite end are Dixie (Nineveh Herrera) and Jerry (Cosmo Reynolds), leaders of an organization that seeks to make trans lives less dangerous."
"Riot Queens, a small, trans-driven play that recently opened at the Back Door Theater in Southeast Portland serves as a dire reminder that the relative comfort we experience now is hard-won-and still under attack."
Riot Queens, a small trans-driven play at Portland's Back Door Theater, examines trans liberation through four characters in 1960s San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. The play follows Nina, a newcomer exposed to different philosophies on trans survival and resistance. Haley advocates for invisibility and acceptance of circumstances, while Dixie and Jerry lead organizational efforts to reduce danger for trans people. Set around the 1966 Compton's Cafeteria Riot, the production explores how trans people navigate systemic hatred with varying strategies. The majority-trans cast delivers naturalistic performances that ground the characters' traumas and motivations in authentic experience, reminding audiences that trans liberation remains contested and hard-won.
Read at Portland Mercury
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