QUEER BATHROOM STORIES

RAYMOND: Who put the stick men and women in charge?”

QUEER BATHROOM STORIES (QBS) is verbatim theatre culled from 100 interviews with LGBTQ North Americans. Much more than the secret sex life of bathrooms, QBS is a brutally honest display of gender politics in public washrooms. Written by York University professor, author and playwright Sheila Cavanagh, QBS has a refined sense of toilet humour! The amateur production won the Patron’s Pick Award at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 2011 and is based on the award-winning book also by Cavanagh titled Queering Bathrooms.

RONNIE: The woman in the triangle-skirt is old school.
BASIL: The male trademark is a bore.
APPALONEA: The gendered signs lack imagination.

Three actors portray 72 distinct characters, each enacting real-life experiences in the loo. The cast animates the vibrant sexual culture of the toilet, along with the gender panic ensuing within it. The play pokes fun at the antiquated male and female stick-figures while underscoring the way the signs restrict access for trans- and gender variant patrons.

PAULA: It’s okay if you are female and feminine and identify with the lady in the triangle skirt.
ROB: Or if you are male and masculine and identify with the stick-man.
MS. GONZALES: But if you mess with the signs you are going to have a problem.

QBS is directed by Megan Watson (Derailed/Summerworks); dramaturged by Judith Rudakoff (York University professor and award-winning dramaturg); scenographic design by Cory Sincennes (designer-in-residence with Surreal Soreal Theatre/Edmonton), cast includes 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 premiers on the eve of WorldPride in Toronto, at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. It is an affiliate WorldPride event and an official Buddies Queer Pride event.

Libido Productions presents
QUEER BATHROOM STORIES
Written by Sheila Cavanagh • Directed by Megan Watson
Starring Hallie Burt, Tyson James, Chy Ryan Spain
Dramaturgy by Judith Rudakoff – Scenographic Design by Cory Sincennes
Project Manager Charissa Wilcox – Production Design Cory Sincennes – Sound Design Verne Good
Assistant Dramaturg Amy Bowman • Dramaturg Intern Shawna Blain
• Dramaturg Intern Lucy Powis

THE CHAMBER, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander Street
May 31-June 15, 2014, Previews May 31 & June 1 • Opening Night: June 3 @ 8pm
Tuesday – Saturday @ 8pm • Sundays @ 2:30pm
Tickets range from $20-$25 (Special rates for student groups) and can be purchased in person at the Buddies Box Office, by calling 416.975.8555 or online at http://buddiesinbadtimes.com
For more info visit http://www.yorku.ca/sheila/index.html

QBS acknowledges the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council of Canada and the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies at York university