In QUEER BATHROOM STORIES (QBS) three actors play 72 characters who are composites culled from hundreds of interviews of LGBTQ North Americans. Written by York University professor, author and playwright Sheila Cavanagh, QBS is based on interviews conducted for Cavanagh's award-winning book, "Queering Bathrooms: Gender, Sexuality and the Hygienic Imagination" (2010).
QBS is much more than the secret sex life of the bathroom, it is a brutally honest display of gender politics in public washrooms. With a refined sense of toilet humour, QBS playwright Sheila Cavanagh, Associate Professor of Sociology and the Sexuality Studies Program Coordinator at York University, asserts that while toilets are not typically considered within traditional scholarly bounds, they form a crucial part of our modern understanding of sex and gender. "Bathrooms have always been places where we segregate folks on the basis of gender, sexuality, class, disability and race," said Cavanagh.
QBS is directed by Megan Watson (Derailed/Summerworks) with scenographic design by Cory Sincennes (designer-in-residence with Surreal Soreal Theatre/Edmonton), and stars Hallie Burt (writer/actor elizabeth - darcy: an adaptation of pride and prejudice/Toronto Fringe), Tyson James (Arigato, Tokyo/Buddies in Bad Times Theatre) and Chy Ryan Spain (Of a Monstrous Child: A Gaga Musical/EcceHomo).
QBS first jumped from the page to the stage at the original book launch at the Gladstone Hotel in November 2010. Queer Bathroom Monologues was then workshopped at the 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival where it was presented with the Patron's Pick Award. QUEER BATHROOM STORIES will receive its world premiere, on the heels of World Pride in Toronto, at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.
QBS will run at The Chamber at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre at 12 Alexander Street from May 31-June 15, 2014 with previews May 31 and June 1. Performance times are Tuesday - Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2:30pm Tickets can be purchased in person at the Buddies Box Office, by calling 416.975.8555 or online at http://buddiesinbadtimes.com. Tickets range from $20-$25, with special rates for student groups. For more info visit http://www.yorku.ca/sheila/index.html.
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