Proud Theater: a Queer Youth Performance Model
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Proud Theater: A Queer Youth Performance Model By Peter Martin Rydberg A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Theatre and Drama) at the UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON 2012 Date of final oral examination: August 27, 2012 The dissertation is approved by the following members of the Final Oral Committee: Jennifer Chapman, Associate Professor, Department of Music and Theatre Arts, University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire Erica Halverson, Assistant Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Wisconsin – Madison Kristin Hunt, Associate Faculty, Department of Theatre and Drama and Integrated Liberal Studies Program, University of Wisconsin – Madison Michael Peterson, Associate Professor, Department of Theatre and Drama, University of Wisconsin – Madison Mary Trotter, Associate Professor, Department of Theatre and Drama, University of Wisconsin – Madison Manon van de Water, Committee Chair and Dissertation Advisor, Professor, Department of Theatre and Drama, University of Wisconsin – Madison © Copyright by Peter Martin Rydberg 2012 All Rights Reserved i Abstract Proud Theater, established in 1999, is a queer youth theatre company based in Madison, Wisconsin. In “Proud Theater: A Queer Youth Performance Model” I argue that Proud Theater is an example of a growing number of queer youth performance models in America that have a direct and measurable impact on their communities, participants, and contemporary discourse in theatre for young audiences, yet models like Proud Theater have received little critical attention. This project provides an analysis of the model’s historical, dramaturgical, ideological, and organizational structures, processes and philosophies. Methodology for the project focuses on primary and secondary sources, two- and a-half years of field observation, and nine personal interviews with company members. Proud Theater is a unique and dynamic theatrical model that transforms shared stories of lived experiences into activist performance, and is one of the longest operating examples of a growing number of similar performance initiatives in American youth theatre. ii Acknowledgements This project would not have been possible without support and guidance from a number of individuals over the course of the last two years. I am grateful and indebted to those who have elected to serve on my dissertation committee: My advisor and committee chair Professor Manon van de Water for her instruction, encouragement, and occasional over- the-head clubbing, along with Professors Jennifer Chapman, Erica Rosenfeld Halverson, Kristin Hunt, Michael Peterson and Mary Trotter. I am grateful to the University of Wisconsin – Madison Department of Theatre and Drama professors and staff, particularly graduate secretary Brenda Weiss, who has been a patient resource for me over the last seven years. Additional thanks to University Theatre Managing Director Michele Traband for constant inspiration, faith and good humor; along with Cindy Schkirkie and the rest of the staff of University Theatre. This project would not have been possible without generous funding from the Department of Theatre and Drama, the University Theatre, and the Department of Communication Arts during my graduate studies. I am exceedingly grateful for the permission, participation and opportunities provided by members of Proud Theater, including: project respondents Sunshine Jones, Sol Kelley- Jones, Callen Harty, Gavin Logan, Josie Montañez-Tyler, Heather Renken, John Sable, Brian Wild, and Emma Zeldin for their time and participation; and the youth participants over the last three years who have allowed me to watch silently from a corner of the rehearsal space. iii Finally, this project would not have been possible without the continued support of friends and family. To my mother, father and grandmother, who have counseled and financed me through the roughest spots; to JS Fauquet, Arrie Callahan, Andrew Wiginton, Mary McAvoy, Jessica Brown-Velez and Allison Metz - my colleagues at UW-Madison who inspired me by example and encouraged me to keep moving forward; and finally to Morey Burnard, Dana Pellebon, Cindy Severt, Jesse Fey, Douglas Holtz, Shawnti Fey, and Jeanine Renfro – constant friends who have kept me sane through the long nights, the frazzled days, and the innumerable canceled social gatherings. This project is dedicated to the memory of our colleague and friend Dr. Julie N. Vogt. iv Table of Contents Project Glossary v Introduction 1 Chapter One 17 Proud Theater: A Queer Youth Performance Model Chapter Two 50 Evolution of the Proud Theater Model Chapter Three 82 Co-opting Prince Charming: Proud Theater Dramaturgy Chapter Four 112 Diversity and Mentorship Chapter Five 135 A Model Season Conclusion 158 Works Cited 169 Appendices: A. Proud Theater Capstone Performances 183 B. Institutional Review Board Documentation 186 C. Queer Youth Performance Initiatives 191 v Project Glossary One challenge of discourse surrounding sexual orientation and gender identity is a confused sub-cultural lexicon, which includes overlapping, contested and contradictory terminology. The Merriam-Webster dictionary includes six separate definitions of queer, and theorists (Dolan, Senelick, Savran, Román) further complicate terms. The following glossary of terms is specific to this research project. Ally/Allies: A straight identified individual who publically advocates for queer issues (included in this project’s use of queer.) Androgynous: For this project the term refers to being “neither distinguishably masculine nor feminine, as in dress, appearance, or behavior” (freedictionary.com). For medical definition see Intersex. Cross-Dresser: “Persons who cross-dress for entertainment or sexual pleasure” (qtd. in Steiglitz 193). It is important to note that cross-dressers do not necessarily have homosexual inclinations. Empowerment: “Nurturing belief in capability or competency, or assisting others in gaining a sense of personal power or control over their lives” (qtd. in Thompson 48). Fag Hag: A self-identified female closely befriended to or by a gay man or a number of gay men. The term can be both self-appointed or prescribed, and, as pointed out by queer historian Vicki Eaklor, is “used by gay men as both a compliment, to include women, and dismissive, to exclude or ridicule them” (152). FtM: A female-to-male transsexual. Gay-Straight Alliance: Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) are school-based organizations that, according to James T. Sears, provide “counseling and support... [a] safe space, and serv[e] as a primary vehicle for raising awareness, increasing visibility, and educating about LGBT issues …” (171). Gender Identity: “The inner conviction that one is male, female, ambivalent, or neutral” (thefreedictionary.com 2012, n.p.). Gender non-conforming: Displaying appearances or behaviors contrary to culturally expected gender norms. Gender Role or Expression: An individual’s behavior as it relates to culturally determined gender expectations (i.e. acts masculine or feminine). Heteronormativity: Defined by Michael Warner and Lauren Berlant as “the institutions, structures of understanding, and practical orientations that make heterosexuality seem vi not only coherent—that is organized as a sexuality—but also privileged” (548, qtd. in Giannini 1). Hir (heer): A gender neutral pronoun used instead of her or his. Homophobia: Fear or hatred of individuals perceived to be non-heterosexual (gay, lesbian, bisexual, person-specific, etc). Intersex: Sobel and Imperato-McGinley define intersexed persons as individuals who “may have physical or hormonal attributes of both females and males” (qtd. in Steiglitz 194). LGBT: Acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender. There are a number of additional letters that can follow the T: Q (alternately used to mean “questioning” or “queer,” at times both represented with QQ); A (straight-identified ally); I (Intersex) and P (person specific), for instance. Throughout this project I use the LGBT acronym when singling out individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or other non-heterosexual sexual orientation. I use queer more often due to its alignment with Proud Theater’s participant diversity and political ideology (see definition below). MtF: A male-to-female transsexual. Preferred Gender Pronoun: A preferred gender pronoun (PGP)refers to an individual’s preference of address by culturally determined feminine, masculine or gender-neutral pronouns. In the United States: feminine as she, her, hers; masculine as he, him, his; gender neutral as they, them, zie, zir, hir. Queer (adj.) Throughout this project queer will be used politically rather than sexually. Following Jill Dolan, “Queerness has come to encompass numerous strategies, all of which carry the charge of multiplicity, openness, contradiction, contention, the slipperiness of sexual practice seeping into discourse, into fashion, into style and politics and theatre. […] To be queer is not who you are, it’s what you do, it’s your relation to dominant power, and your relation to marginality, as a place of empowerment” (98). Queer Theatre: “To speak in general terms, queer theatre is grounded in and expressive of unorthodox sexuality or gender identity, antiestablishment and confrontational in tone, experimental and unconventional in format, with stronger ties to performance art and what the Germans call Kleinkunst, that is, revue, cabaret, and variety, than to traditional forms of drama”