Theater: Sagittarius Ponderosa (2016)
Sometimes the subject matter of a play can catch you so far off guard that you wonder where you’ve been all of these years. Gender identity was an area of social discourse that hadn’t been prominent in my life up to that point in time. I followed news stories like the Bruce Jenner story but reading it at a distance was much different than being immersed in the details of it and having to make character choices about gender identity in my on-stage family. Before our first rehearsal started the actors, Director, Playwright and Stage Manager stood in a circle, holding hands, and proceeded to go from person-to-person stating our gender identity. Thank God, it started on the opposite half of the circle because I had no idea what was going on. When my turn came I stated “he” but when the turns were coming around there were a couple of “they’s” which was a revelation to me. I had never heard anyone refer to themselves as “they” before. Further, after our second table read it occurred to me that I wasn’t sure if the character portrayed as my son was male or female. I learned a lot and was enlightened during that rehearsal process. So it’s never too late to teach an old Dog new tricks. Doing the play and interacting with MJ and Bex gave me an appreciation and admiration for the real people who live in this world and that are striving for greater social acceptance. Great experience.
