WHEN
VINCENT
WORTHINGTON
took
the
helm
of
Trumpet
Vine
Theatre
Company
two
years
ago,
he
decided
to
rework
the
group’s
mission.
His
desire
was
and
remains
to
explore
the
universal
human
experience
through
the
eyes
of
gay
people.
Transsexual
playwright
and
author
Kate
Bornstein’s
provocative
1989
work,
“Hidden:
A
Gender,”
is
Trumpet
Vines’
current
effort.
Directed
by
Worthington,
the
show
fits
nicely
into
the
company’s
season
(aptly
titled
“Landscape
of
Identity”),
while
furthering
its
overall
objective.
With
a
blast
of
white
light
and
familiar
circus
sound,
a
ringmaster,
whip
in
hand,
bounds
onstage,
taking
the
center
ring.
Clearly,
this
showman
is
actually
an
attractive
young
woman.
The
top
hat
and
tails
do
little
to
disguise
the
daring
bustier
and
distinctly
feminine
curves.
Her
grease
paint
handlebar
moustache
is
merely
a
smudge
on
her
Dove
girl
complexion.
Loudly,
L.C.
Doc
Grinder
(that’s
the
ringmaster’s
painful
name)
promises
the
audience
a
glimpse
into
the
forbidden
and
scary
world
of
“gender
blur,”
where
the
primary
villains
are
Madison
Avenue,
religious
institutions,
the
medical
field
and
our
very
own
sense
of
self.
A
combination
of
ringmaster,
carnival
barker,
talk
show
host,
and
commercial
spokesman
for
a
product
called
“Gender
Defender”
(pink
bottle
for
girls,
blue
for
boys),
Grinder
(Ghillian
Porter)
adamantly
pushes
traditional
concepts
of
gender,
a
devil’s
advocate
defying
the
audience
to
think
outside
of
set
parameters.
FROM
THERE,
THE
show
intriguingly
tracks
two
oddly
parallel
lives,
separated
by
miles
and
decades:
Herculine/Abel
Barbin,
an
actual
19th
century
French
hermaphrodite,
and
Herman/Kate
Amberstone,
a
male-
to-female
transsexual,
autobiographically
based
on
the
playwright.
We
first
meet
tortured
Herculine
(sensitively
acted
by
Sarah
Fischer)
as
a
confused
young
girl
at
convent
school
kneeling
before
a
flickering
candle,
praying
to
the
virgin.
She
begs
forgiveness
for
her
strong
romantic
attraction
to
another
girl,
and
an
unladylike
thirst
for
knowledge.
Later
we
find
her
as
a
young
teacher
and
even
more
confused.
Once
again,
Herculine
is
in
love
with
a
woman
and
uncomfortable
with
her
own
academic
leanings.
When
it’s
discovered
that
she’s
a
hermaphrodite,
the
local
physician
disastrously
orders
her
to
live
the
remainder
of
her
life
as
a
man.
Even
in
kindergarten
Herman
(Katie
Atkinson)
knew
she
was
a
woman.
Before
seeking
sexual
reassignment
surgery
as
an
adult,
she
passes
years
as
a
sexy
stud
actor,
and
later
a
cult
member.
As
Kate,
she
is
a
lesbian,
continuing
her
life
as
a
woman
outside
the
lines.
VERY
DIDACTIC,
BORNSTEIN’S
play
instructs
audiences
to
look
at
gender
in
new
ways,
and
exposes
the
harmful
effect
of
enforcing
oppressive
gender
expectations.
Sometimes,
the
playwright
employs
humor
in
getting
her
point
across.
Unfortunately,
as
performed
by
this
three-woman
cast,
the
comic
bits
aren’t
particularly
funny.
Whether
it’s
the
zany
skit
involving
Doctors
Weenie
and
Razor,
Herman’s
Marx
physicians,
or
the
snooty
chef
who
demonstrates
Herman’s
surgery
with
a
sharp
knife
and
a
big
dough
penis,
the
funny
stuff
falls
a
little
flat.
Nevertheless,
“Hidden:
A
Gender”
offers
a
fine
introduction
to
a
fascinatingly
complex
subject.
