Baltimore Center Stage and Breaking the Binary Theatre are partnering on a new initiative aimed at documenting the history of gender nonconformity by commissioning, developing, and publishing 10 new plays. The Trans History Project will select 10 trans and gender non-conforming writers for placement in a two-year development residency at regional theatres across the country.
The initiative is currently taking submissions (through May 11) for the first cohort of playwrights at . Five writers will be chosen for the first round, each receiving a $10,000 commission fee. Chosen writers will also receive development support from Diversionary Theatre in San Diego, California; Rattlestick Theater in New York; Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Maryland; and Baltimore Center Stage. The commissioned playwrights will convene annually each summer at Baltimore Center Stage to share work and build community.
鈥�The idea for this project came to me in 2018, but my original vision was to create one play with many playwrights, each one of them writing one vignette about a gender nonconforming person from their culture," says BCS Artist-in-Residence Bo Frazier, who created the initiative. "A dear friend told me to 鈥榙ream bigger,鈥� and thus this project was born. Through this work, we will educate the cisgender community, and uplift and empower the trans community, all while engaging the next generation of audiences. One of the major problems about being trans and non-binary in 2025 is that many people think we didn鈥檛 exist until 10 years ago. They don't know the history of the world that has included all gender variant people in all cultures for centuries. Society needs to know about our history, and I am grateful that Stevie Walker-Webb believes in the importance of this project and that an important institution like Baltimore Center Stage wants to tell our stories. This collaboration between BCS, Breaking the Binary, and our regional theatre partners is a dream come true, and I hope it inspires others to program, produce, and commission work by the TGNC community.鈥�
"The Trans History Project is part of our broader commitment at Baltimore Center Stage to center marginalized voices in the cultural conversation," adds BCS Artistic Director Stevie Walker Webb. "The trans rights movement stands in the lineage of the Civil Rights Movement鈥攂ecause trans rights are civil rights, and human rights. Until trans playwrights are produced as widely as Lynn Nottage, David Henry Hwang, or Mar铆a Irene Forn茅s鈥攏one of whom are produced nearly enough鈥攚e have work to do. As Toni Cade Bambara said, the role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible, and trans artists are often the most transcendent creatives I know. We鈥檙e excited and expectant that the work emerging from this project will be innovative, visionary, and artistically groundbreaking."
Breaking the Binary is dedicating their participation in the program to Z (fka Aziza Bames).
