TRANSlation: A Nu Gworl Group

What I liked

The premise & concept. Relatively well paced.
Few moments of genuine laughs.

What I didn't like

It breaks my heart at many levels to say this because I know how scarce the landscape is for Black/Queer creatives to experiment and showcase their work, but this was REALLY bad.

very minor spoiler in this review

There were numerous moments where I and the other Black queer trans folx I came with almost all walked out. Even as relatively well paced as it was with such a brilliant and elevated concept, sitting through that hour was such a cringe worthy experience all we could do was laugh in order to quell the shock of it all. It was tonally all over the place and couldnt achieve the delicate balance of drama or comedy stewed in tragedy. The actors did their best with what was given – kudos to our actor who played Paulette who was our sole source of light – but to find redeemable qualities would be a tall order.

The lack of care for the characters, the actors, and the audience, was painfully evident. The villain was written as such a gumbo of all the worst parts of a cliché villain, that the actor really leaned into and did great with. And I LOVE me a good villain, but it became comically disgusting and not enjoyable so much so there was a moment of a death fake out that the entire audience collectively groaned when he didnt actually bite the proverbial dust.

As a fellow Black, Queer and Non-binary artivist, it would be irresponsible of me to endorse or recommend this play to anyone. It feels like every decision made for this play was trauma for trauma’s sake, shock value + MORE shock value with a hefty side of "but I’m showing the “real” experiences of Trans folx without any nuance or consideration for not just the stories I am telling, but the people who are the vehicles for these stories and the audiences receiving them.

To the writer and the Black Trans advisory group who contributed to the shaping of this project: Who was this for? In the great words of the prophet Belcalis Cephus née Almanzar: “WHAT WAS THE REASON?!”

I am not saying that the plight of many trans lives is devoid of a wide spectrum of violence and that this can’t be shown or translated unto a creative medium. But I must say I was genuinely surprised something with this much PURPOSELESS violence was greenlit. It was saddening to know the stories which hung on the wall right next door in the gallery were being rendered in such a harmful way bereft of any good moment of breath. No catharsis, no character change, no playoffs to any of the set ups, left the theater unclear of not just whose story is this, but what the hell did I just experience that has left me so hollow?

I was intrigued at the idea of a lip sync musical, but as we progressed it became one of my biggest quarrel. I wish we could’ve heard the actors have campy fun with the songs while also committing to the choreo. Even if it is campy and bad – give me camp and bad singing! Your actors have range and big voices and clearly personalities – why not use them? At first it felt the choreo was intentionally not all together because it was part of the girl group’s arc/transformation. But by the end – not much had changed.

To anyone who attends: if you have a good time with this, good for you. For everyone else – make sure you have a strong drink, a fat blunt, and a good tribe to be with in post to kiki, cry, and/or be angry and disappointed with.

To the actors: I wish you more vibrant and amazing roles worthy of your talents and hard work!

My overall impression

I left the theater feeling deeply disturbed and disappointed. This could use a page 1 rewrite.