Trans*istor Radio
Devised and edited by Madeline ‘Mo’ Oslejsek
Swiss Cottage Library, London
2018
Trans* identifying individuals have the power to change the way we view and experience gender, much like the rise of transistor radios changed the way people experience music. But, in order to begin to change this experience and demolish the construction of gender as a binary, the first thing we must do… is listen.
Trans*istor Radio is a site-responsive piece about trans*gender identities that was performed twice at the Swiss Cottage Library in London.
Drawing attention to the binaries of the space by placing the piece in its middle, this piece used the site as a metaphor for binary constructions and labeled areas of representation.
In its first performance, the audience was guided down a path marked out by barriers and string by the use of headphones. As they entered the space through a two-sided pathway marked by security posts, the audience heard various voices calling out the derogatory statements trans* individuals are often forced to face, followed by a spoken word poem by a trans artist who wishes to remain anonymous. At the end of the poem, the audience was instructed to remove their headphones, but continue listening.
Standing at the end of the path, staring them directly in the eyes while they listened to the story of one trans individual, was Robbie Burton-Moore, a trans actor from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. There were three small, brown boxes in front of him on a table. Each contained a material which made a sound when shaken. When the audience had all removed their headphones, Robbie invited the audience to guess what was in the boxes by looking at them. The audience stared back at Robbie in silence. He then shook the boxes and, one by one, the audience could identify the materials inside of them. Robbie explained that they could never have guessed what was in the boxes if they would not have listened to them first, and then asked them to guess his gender by just looking at him. Silence. “How about you try listening to me first?” Robbie spent the next few moments speaking to them about his experience as a trans man. He grabbed a pair of scissors, cut down the barriers created by the string, and invited the audience to do the same if they felt they had truly listened that day.
And with that… the barriers began to fall to the ground.
In its second showing, Trans*istor Radio was reimagined as an installation piece.
When the audience entered the Swiss Cottage Library, a small table with three boxes and some post-it notes on it was waiting for them. Attached to the table was a set of instructions, which read:
Do you know what’s in these boxes?
No. Of course not.
Don’t just look at them and guess – try listening to them.
Take your time.
Once you have listened, write your guess down on a post-it note.
Then, you can turn the boxes over to find the answer.
Do NOT change what you’ve written.
Stick your note on the wall with the others.
The audience did as the instructions asked and stuck their notes on the wall along the stairs leading to the atrium of the library where they found their next set of instructions:
You could never have known what was in those boxes by just looking at them.
You only knew what was inside once you listened to them.
Even then, it may have taken you a few tries to understand what you were hearing.
But, you made the effort.
Mo stood on the landing of the stairs placing headphones on the heads of the audience members and directing them to keep moving into the atrium. In the middle of the space was a path marked out by barriers created with numerous strands of blue and pink string. As they moved through this area, the audience was told a story through the headphones by a transgender individual who has asked to remain anonymous. The story was told through spoken word poetry and described the individual’s experiences with their identity.
At the end of the path stood a table with a screen showing a video clip from the first performance of Trans*istor Radio. Next to the video screen were another set of instructions:
The barriers created by the gender binary are starting to break.
We’ve come a long way.
But, there is still a long way to go.
Through empowerment and acceptance of trans* individuals, that distance will be triumphed and the gender binary deconstructed.
If you feel this is a journey you are ready for, use these scissors to cut down a section of the barrier.
One by one, the spectators used the pair of scissors attached to the table to cut down the barrier. One by one, people were moved. One by one, something began to change.
