Trans Non-Binary Performer Brings Two Stories About Diversity, Belonging, And Resilience

New Zealand-based Ren Lunicke is Redmond, WA born, Canadian trained, and New Zealand based. Raised in the bible belt outskirts of King County and San Juan Islands County, they had a late exposure to secularism, coming to adulthood in neighboring B.C., Canada. Years later, in a "same-sex" Canada-approved marriage, they moved to Seattle for the first time, only to go through one of the first legal same-sex divorces right after U.S. federal recognition was granted. Post-divorce, they went on another journey through gender and sexual diversity leading them to settle in New Zealand.

Now an award-winning international touring writer/performer Ren Lunicke presents a unique cultural hybrid that has won them critical acclaim in various cities in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This September, they bring two of their highly entertaining, thought-provoking autobiographical works about this journey to identity and belonging to their former Seattle home for the first time as part of a west coast 'Belonging Tour' stretching from Victoria, BC to Los Angeles, CA.

These two highly complementary shows include Part I: BLOOD RELATIVE, a wry dramatic work about love, loss, the limits and power of biological kinship, and the potential to build family beyond all expectations ala the "It Gets Better" project. Part II is "ZE:" queer as f*ck! a late-night dark comedy about the sex, gender, and one queer's parade of labels and identities on their way to PRIDE. Both performances feature local Seattle and international references.

*Ren identifies as trans non-binary and so uses they/them or ze/zir pronouns except when referring to their former self pre-transition "she/her."

In their play BLOOD RELATIVE, Ren ruthlessly exposes the ongoing mythology about biological family and the swing in "all-or-nothing" relationships when the Hallmark version of "happy family" disappoints.

In this dramatic and humorous re-telling, Ren narrates and enters into scenes from their former life as "Michelle," a newly Canadian-married lesbian caught between the modern ideals of a diverse and loving "chosen family," the normative assertion that nuclear family is the most important, and an ongoing desire to be part of a legacy.

While evaluating a painful fertility disease and the possibility of any future children, Michelle receives the call from her right-wing evangelical mother, that Michelle's loving grandmother is dying. In the overlapping time between care-taking the last of one generation and facing the limitations surrounding any future generations, Michelle must decide which definition of family she can depend upon to create family for herself.

Ren looks back with humor and wit to connect, mourn, and remember their power in the ongoing journey to ensure that "family will always be there."

Tickets:

Discount (Students & Seniors): $10

Full Price: $15

https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3596836

Note: buying a ticket to BLOOD RELATIVE will entitle you a $10 discount password for a ticket to "ZE": queer as f*ck!

FB event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/282692509214092/

"Ze": queer as ****! is a dark comedy about sex, gender, and the expanding parade of labels and identities Michelle/Ryan (now Ren) claims on zir way to pride. (*ze/zir are early days gender neutral pronouns)

"Ze" had its global premiere in Perth, Australia in 2016, where it was nominated for a Comedy Award, and has since toured to sold-out audiences in every country and winning awards for its unique brand of comedy and level of artistic risk with new content for the stage. Trans non-binary identities have only continued to rise in awareness since then.

In this international queer origin story, Michelle/Ryan (now Ren) rips the bandage away from zir startling puritanical upbringing and is catapulted by zir experiences through a complex and surprising "coming out" process as a genderqueer, kinky, femmesexual, polyminded, gay-divorcée. Along each step of the way ze discovers each new beloved community is at times just as ridiculous and pigeon-holed as the one ze's just left.

Part theatre, story-telling, and stand-up, Ren both uses and parodies the labels meant to help an individual embrace their truth in a modern world desperate for definition. "Ze" brings the audience along a rarely told journey of gender fluidity and micro-identities in a PRIDE-worthy celebration that exposes the tension between being authentic to oneself and belonging to one's community

FB event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1714035475391581/

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