NTS announce trans artists digital symposium

All around the world, trans and non-binary artists are using digital media to transform their practice and make a difference, and now The National Theatre of Scotland are exploring the movement with a free digital symposium featuring discussions and panels with a number of leading Scots LGBT artists and activists.

Titled Beyond the Binary: Trans Artists in the Digital World, the symposium takes place Sat 18 Feb at Glasgow University’s Gilmorehill Centre, and audiences have the opportunity to attend the event in the flesh or to follow it remotely via the National Theatre of Scotland’s Youtube channel.

Heading up the event is National Theatre of Scotland’s digital, international trans choir, the Adam World Choir, along with the team behind the Queen Jesus Plays.

The lineup includes writer and performer Jo Clifford and director Susan Worsfold, who are introducing an extract from the film of their globetrotting creation The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven, which will be followed by a live link-up with the Brazilian production team in São Paulo to discuss the impact of their version of the play in Brazil. Other speakers include Marc David Jacobs from the Scottish Queer International Film Festival and artist and activist Kate O’Donnell.

There’s also a planned discussion examining the role of digital art in driving social and political change to be lead by musician and producer Kerry JK, and the event will also mark the official launch of Songs from the New Genderation, an album of brand-new music from members of the Adam World Choir.

Two new trans-themed plays coming to the Fringe 

The National Theatre of Scotland also have two new shows, titled Eve and Adam, about trans lives coming up later in the year created by some of Scotland and UK’s leading theatre artists. Cora Bissett directs Adam, which concerns the true story of a young trans man from Egypt and his journey to reconciliation in Scotland, with music coming courtesy of a digital choir of trans and non-binary voices from around the world.

Eve, meanwhile, comes from Clifford, who offers up a reflection on one trans woman's life, from an oppressive 1950s boyhood to the present day.

Both shows premiere in August at the Traverse Theatre Festival as part of the Fringe, before touring to Glasgow’s Citizen’s Theatre the following month.

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The symposium, Beyond the Binary: Trans Artists in the Digital World, takes place 18 Feb, Glasgow University’s Gilmorehill Centre. The event is free but ticketed – book via Eventbrite