Among the Zuni American Indians of present-day New Mexico—as among many First Nation peoples—the idea of an individual being outwardly one gender but identifying as another was understood and accepted. These “two-spirit” individuals often filled unique societal positions, crossing the divide between roles accepted as “male” and those accepted as “female.”
For Plan-B Theatre Company’s 20th season opener, playwright Julie Jensen has crafted a narrative based on this historical reality of a culture in which transgender identity was not necessarily a stigma. Joe Debevc takes the role of Lamana, a Zuni born a man but identifying as a woman; April Fossen and Jay Perry fill out the cast as Victorian anthropologists conducting an early study of the tribe, amazed at what they find. Perhaps you will be, as well.
Plan-B Theatre Company: She Was My Brother @ Rose Wagner Studio Theatre, 138 W. 300 South, 801-355-2787, Oct. 28-Nov. 10, $10-$20. PlanBTheatreCompany.org
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