Queer Voices Festival brings 10-minute plays to the stage

During a practice run of the play, “Limpia” – which means cleanse in Spanish – actress Zelina Garcia, 23, plays a young trans woman longing to be herself.

The world and some loved ones have been cruel. But her uncle, played by Dorchester actor Johnny Gordon, reminds her that she is not alone while they gather sweetgrass, herbs and poultices as medicine to clear the air and lighten her energy.

“She is you,” he tells her. “And you’re going to learn to love her.”

Like all of the mini plays to be performed this weekend at Boston Theater Company’s Queer Voices Festival, “Limpia” is a quick ten minutes. Yet, it offers a rich glimpse into the tender relationship between a niece and her uncle who loves her for who she is.

“She’s me,” Garcia said, who is trans and uses ‘she’ and ‘they’ pronouns. “ I relate to this character a lot because I don't have the best relationship with my parents and some of my family. In a Hispanic family, family is everything. So you're taught that you ride or die with your family, and now they're departing you and it's heartbreaking.”

This year marks the second installment of the festival, which features a showcase of seven short plays. There are love stories, comedy, and a scene where a character conducts a seance to connect with his late father, to tell his dad he’s engaged.

“ I, in particular, love uplifting stories from my community and especially stories of queer and trans joy,” said Director Shira Helena Gitlin, who is directing “Limpia” and “Seance.” “So many of our narratives that are in the media, yes they are about self-discovery and coming out, but often about hardship and about struggle and about challenge…for ‘Limpia’  in particular ritual is very important in many trans people's lives, as you come into your body and into yourself.”

Each mini play is a nuanced slice of life, in all its flavor, telling stories of characters who just happen to be LGBTQ+. The festival runs from Friday through Sunday and includes a staged reading in collaboration with CHUANG Stage as well as an education tour performance of “Beyond Boundaries: Gender Expression in Shakespeare” created by Lisa Rafferty. Boston Theater Company brings this performance to schools across Massachusetts to show how Shakespearean plays and sonnets highlight gender and gender identity.

Lyndsay Allyn Cox, the producing director for Queer Voices said the timing of the festival couldn't be more perfect. “Especially with the funding cuts that are happening and the chaos of the world, to be in a theater with like-minded people for 70 minutes and to celebrate who we are together, we actually need that, right?” she said.. “I think we need collective healing, and it is through storytelling that I believe we can find our way there.”

Director Hannah McEachern, 27, of North Quincy, said it’s especially important when anti-trans and LGBTQ+ legislation is on the rise alongside President Trump’s dehumanizing executive orders preventing transgender people from playing women’s sports or serving in the military.

“ It really is about what this administration is doing and how it is affecting everyday life and the education of students across the country,” McEachern said. “These are really, really, really scary times…More so for people who literally cannot get out of their circumstances in a red state and have to be forced to identify in a different way or hide themselves.”

McEachern is directing the play, “Oop, Can't Say That” by playwright, college educator and artist Tom Zhang, based on their experience as a professor in Kansas. The play also takes inspiration from their experience being from Florida and the “Don’t Say Gay” efforts.

“ My own work as a college educator and a professor is very much based in my own identity,” Zhang said. “So there was also that frustration of being like, ‘well, okay. I'm here because of the work I do, but I can't really do it openly without fear of some level of blowback from some state legislator.’”

The play speaks to the dance of language as the lead character’s identity and pronouns are censored.

“ I've had to think a lot about strategies for how to make sure that legally I'm not in any sort of weird danger while also trying to make sure that I can also preserve the environment for my students that lets them know that they can be addressed however they want,” Zhang said. “I'm not going to misgender them or deadname them.”

Jiayi Shao, 20, of Wellesley, plays the lead in Zhang’s play and said there is something euphoric about asserting their queer Asian-American identity on stage in this show.

“ It's just so beautiful,” Shao said. “It means so much to be in a piece where it talks about the queer Asian American experience when there are so few narratives out there talking about this.”

Pascale Florestal, submitted a play she wrote called “The Balcony or The Last Night,” based on the story of how she met her spouse. The question that arose for her in writing was “what if Romeo and Juliet was queer?”

“ I like to call it two star-crossed lovers that you want to root for, but you're not sure if they're going to make it,” Florestal said.

Spoilers: They do.

Queer Voices Festival runs March 21-23 at the Plaza Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St, Boston.

Tickets are pay what you wish. In BTC's commitment to financial equity, those who cannot afford a ticket can request a free one by emailing assistant@bostontheater.org.