Paul Lucas' TRANS SCRIPTS Sells Out at American Repertory Theater

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Diane Paulus, Artistic Director, will present a reading of TRANS SCRIPTS, a groundbreaking new play about transgender identity, written by Paul Lucas, and directed by Jo Bonney, at OBERON on Monday, November 23 at 7:30PM. The reading will be followed by an A.R.T. of Human Rights panel discussion led by Timothy Patrick McCarthy. Tickets are sold-out, but you can learn more about the performance at AmercianRepertoryTheater.org.

TRANS SCRIPTS is a verbatim play that centers on the lives of six trans women. Their true stories, told in their own words, are honest, funny, moving, insightful, and inspiring. But most of all, they are human, shedding light not on our differences, but on what all people share, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, or physical sex. In the past several years, transgender visibility around the world has exploded. Actresses like Laverne Cox (Orange is The New Black), celebrities like Chaz Bono, directors like Lana Wachowski (The Matrix), and sports figures like Caitlyn Jenner are entering the public consciousness, appearing in film, on television, and even mainstream comic books. But what does the average person actually know about the true, lived experience of transgender women? Not the life of someone in the public eye, but the day-to-day reality of being trans in Western culture.

Jo Bonney directs this reading at OBERON featuring a powerhouse cast of transgender and cisgender* actors, many of whom appeared in the play's Fringe First Award-winning premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe earlier this year, including transgender icon, actress and activist Calpernia Addams as Sandra; actress and celebrity stylist Jay Knowles as Luna; New York performing legend Bianca Leigh as Tatiana; highly-respected actor and teacher Jodie Lynne McClintock as Josephine; star of the BBC Two comedy Boy Meets Girl Rebecca Root as Eden; and House of Cards regular Carolyn M. Smith as Zakia.

Paul Lucas (Playwright) is a writer and producer based in New York City. His producing credits include The Be(a)st of Taylor Mac (Herald Angel Award), What I Heard About Iraq (Fringe First Award) at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; Woody Sez at Edinburgh and the West End; Dai (Lucille Lortel Award); and numerous productions off-Broadway, on National Tour, in the West End, and around the world. TRANS SCRIPTS is his first play.

Jo Bonney (Director) previously directed Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2, & 3) at A.R.T. and The Public Theater; the presentations of Eric Bogosian's Dog Show: Pounding Nails on the Floor With My Forehead and More Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll at the A.R.T.; Danny Hoch's Some People, Diana Son's Stop Kiss, Anna Deavere Smith's House Arrest, Jose Rivera's References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot, and Naomi Wallace's Fever Chart at The Public Theater. She has directed premieres of plays by Alan Ball, Eric Bogosian, Culture Clash, Eve Ensler, Jessica Goldberg, Neil LaBute, Warren Leight, Lynn Nottage, Dael Orlandersmith, Darci Picoult, Will Power, David Rabe, Universes, and Michael Weller. She has also directed productions of plays by Caryl Churchill, Nilo Cruz, Charles Fuller, Lisa Loomer, John Osborne, John Pollono, and Lanford Wilson. She is the recipient of the 1998 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Direction; and is the editor of Extreme Exposure: An Anthology of Solo Performance Texts from the Twentieth Century.

The A.R.T. of Human Rights is an ongoing collaboration with the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University that uses the arts and the humanities to explore some of the most pressing human rights issues of our time. This series features public conversations with leading artists, academics, and activists, as well as educational and artistic partnerships with local schools and organizations. Building on the Carr Center's commitment to advancing human rights principles, and the A.R.T.'s mission to "expand the boundaries of theater," The A.R.T. of Human Rights is designed to foster a new model for community education, civic engagement, and creative expression. It is directed and hosted by Timothy Patrick McCarthy, award-winning Harvard faculty member and director of the Carr Center's Sexuality, Gender, and Human Rights Program.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University is a leading force in the American theater, producing groundbreaking work in Cambridge and beyond. The A.R.T. was founded in 1980 by Robert Brustein, who served as Artistic Director until 2002, when Robert Woodruff succeeded him. Diane Paulus began her tenure as Artistic Director in 2008. Under her leadership, the A.R.T. seeks to expand the boundaries of theater by programming events that immerse audiences in transformative theatrical experiences.

Throughout its history, the A.R.T. has been honored with many distinguished awards, including the Tony Award for Best New Play for All the Way (2014); consecutive Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Musical for Pippin (2013) and The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (2012), both of which Paulus directed; a Pulitzer Prize for Marsha Norman's 'Night, Mother (1983); a Jujamcyn Prize for outstanding contribution to the development of creative talent; the Tony Award for Best Regional Theater; and numerous Elliot Norton and IRNE Awards.

As the professional theater on the campus of Harvard University, the A.R.T. catalyzes discourse, interdisciplinary collaboration, and creative exchange among a wide range of academic departments, institutions, students, and faculty members, acting as a conduit between its community of artists and the university. A.R.T. artists also teach undergraduate courses in directing, dramatic literature, acting, voice, design, and dramaturgy. The A.R.T. Institute for Advanced Theater Training, which is run in partnership with the Moscow Art Theater School, offers graduate-level training in acting, dramaturgy, and voice.

Dedicated to making great theater accessible, the A.R.T. actively engages more than 5,000 community members and local students annually in project-based partnerships, workshops, conversations with artists, and other enrichment activities both at the theater and across the Greater Boston area. The A.R.T.'s club theater, OBERON, has become an incubator for local and emerging artists and has attracted national attention for its innovative programming and business models.

Through all of these initiatives, the A.R.T. is dedicated to producing world-class performances in which the audience is central to the theatrical experience.

For further information, visit AmericanRepertoryTheater.org.

*A person who identifies as the gender/sex they were assigned at birth.

Photo Credit: Marcus Oliver

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