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Prep School: Adam

Adam tells the true story of Adam Kashmiry, a young trans man, and his journey from Egypt to Scotland. Adam was developed for the stage by Frances Poet, who describes the writing process:

The director, Cora Bissett, first approached me in 2015. She had met Adam Kashmiry at an event for refugees and Scots at the Citizens Theatre in which he shared his story of being born a girl in Egypt and having to travel to Glasgow to become the man he knew he was. She knew immediately that she wanted to tell his story theatrically… I approached the writing hesitantly at first. I felt a huge sense of responsibility, and it took a while to give myself permission to just run with it.

The idea that Adam play himself didn’t come until much later… originally (and perhaps inexplicably) I had written three Adams on stage, but with Adam acting in the piece it became obvious that the play should be written for two: one to lead the telling of childhood experiences and represent the birth body and Egypt, and one played by Adam himself who could be seen in some ways to have been born in Glasgow.

Learn more about the show, the National Theatre of Scotland.

RELATED EVENTS
Two people sit facing each other in a bathtub on stage, lit with dramatic blue lighting. Geometric set pieces form a backdrop, suggesting a theatrical or dramatic performance.
  • Thu Feb 14 – Sat Feb 16, 2019

National Theatre of Scotland: Adam

  • Theater
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indefinite article

J de Leon on Adam

Transition begins in language, the rest following in the wake of words. Trans and nonbinary names and pronouns are poetry – following Audre Lorde’s argument, in “Poetry is Not a Luxury,” that “poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought.” To reconfigure one’s self in language – name and or/pronoun – is to indulge in an idea of another way of being in the world, to imagine a way into or out of something binding, and to hold open space for a different sense of movement for one’s self instead – the possibility of change. Our names and pronouns are spoken into the world to give it a new shape. 

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GET THEE TO THE LIBRARY

Recommended readings to accompany the Indefinite Article by J de Leon.

  • Leslie Feinberg, Stone Butch Blues. Firebrand Books, 1993.
  • Paul B. Preciado, Testo Junkie: Sex, Drugs, and Biopolitics in the Pharmacopornographic Era. Feminist Press, 2013.
  • Riley Snorton, Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity. University of Minnesota Press, 2017.
  • Christopher Soto, editor, Nepantla: An Anthology Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color. Nightboat Books, 2018.
  • Dean Spade, Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics and the Limits of Law. Duke University Press, 2015.

OFFICE HOURS

February 13, 2019: Jennifer Cayer chats with Adam Kashmiry about the upcoming run of “Adam” at NYU Skirball.

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WE WON’T BE ERASED

Sanctuary is an LGBTQ issue. Read about the intersections of race, class, and nationality in contemporary trans experiences, and the ways Trump’s administration is working to reduce trans rights for US citizens, immigrants and asylum-seekers.

In Others’ Words

There are as many examples of the “trans experience” as there are trans people (so: many). Here are some memoirs from people who share their stories, ideas, and experiences, and add some much-needed complexity to traditional gender narratives.

Plus: a crowd-sourced virtual chorus of trans voices telling their own stories, in the New York Times.

EXTRA CREDIT

A highlight from another queer memoir adapted for the stage: Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori, performed at the Tonys by the “uncanny” Sydney Lucas (what a New York Times review to earn at 10!). In this song, young Alison viscerally recognizes a butch delivery person – from boots to barbershop – as someone who has something to teach her about her own gender, seeing for the first time a different way to envision her future. “I think we’re alike” – simultaneously a soaring and terrifying realization.

Plus, here’s a great episode of the queer podcast Nancy that takes inspiration from this idea.

What’s your ring of keys moment?