It’s finally time for the official reveal of my top secret project I’ve been working on. It’s an oral history/documentary theatre piece called Cleaning Closets, and I’ve been interviewing members of the LGBTQ community and getting their coming out stories. I’ve also been interviewing their families and friends in order to get their perspective on how the coming out process affects them! Hopefully this will allow us to find common ground and build new bridges and maybe even gain new allies.
I was inspired to do this project while looking back on my own coming out journey. It wasn’t until a few years after I officially told my mother that she let me know her feelings during that time. I was blown away because I was so consumed with the personal affects that I never took the time to step back and see how my coming out was affecting my entire family and network of friends.
I’ve been amazed at the courage and willingness people have had while sharing their stories. Listening to them inspires me even more to create a great performance. But it also puts a lot of pressure on me because as an artist I want to create a quality piece, but I also need to make sure I effectively create awareness around the issues.
It goes up in the fall at UIC, but a date is still being set. So I will keep you updated as the show progresses. I’m also about to involve social media into the project, so I’ll let you know when that happens!
chitchatjonny 