Perseverance Theatre in Juneau has outdone itself. After last year’s “Little Women” production, in which the main character of this Louisa May Alcott classic story was a transgender (female to male), critics are saying the community theater has doubled down on LGBTQ.
Two of the three productions for 2023-24 are about transexual and queer life.
“Hedwig and the Angry Inch” is about transexual punk rocker from East Berlin who tours the U.S. with her rock band. The entire play seems to be about her gender identity.
Amazon describes it as “A high-powered rock musical that tells the hilarious but emotional tale of an East Berlin transgendered diva on a journey to find stardom in her new home.”
The second production, “A Nice Indian Boy,” is about a Californian named Naveen who brings his same-sex fiance home to meet his family, and how his traditional East Indian parents must contend with accepting his gay partner, who is also caucasian, and helping them plan their same-sex wedding. The entire play, written by Madhuri Shekar, takes place in California.
The third production is titled, “Indecent,” and was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel. It recounts the scandal surrounding the play “God of Vengeance,” which debuted on Broadway in 1923, leading to the arrest and conviction of the producer and cast on obscenity charges. The production is laced with themes of censorship, obscenity, immigration, and anti-Semitism.
“Our Perseverance Theatre Team works with great care to select our seasons— we listen deeply and work to support the conversations that our communities are working to bring forward for a just and equitable world. We welcome everyone to celebrate our communities and the incredible artistry and talent of Alaska as we produce this 2023-2024 Season”, said Artistic Director Leslie Ishii on the website.
Perseverance Theatre, which bills itself as the premiere regional theater, has taken a hard left turn since the departure of artistic director Art Roach in 2019.
The theatre hired Ishii from Seattle as the new artistic director and she soon was was writing to donors and asking them to donate to Black Lives Matter during the George Floyd riots of 2020.
The theater did no productions during the pandemic, but since returning to productions, required attendees to show proof of a Covid vaccination and wear masks, a policy it has finally eased away from. It also cut its offerings from four to three, and is putting a big emphasis on LGBTQ themes for capital city theatergoers. Perseverance tickets and information are here.
Theatre in the Rough is also offering a LGBTQ-themed comedy starting July 28. “He Kills Monsters” is about coming to terms with being queer.
“In this high-octane comedy laden with homicidal fairies, hobgoblins, and 90s pop culture, acclaimed playwright Qui Nguyen (VIETGONE, LIVING DEAD IN DENMARK) offers a heart-pounding homage to the geek and warrior within us all,” the theater writes. Tickets here.
There are other theater groups in Juneau offering less LGBT-obsessed entertainment.
There’s the Juneau Lyric Opera, which will offer a concert version of “Candide” in October.
There’s also the innovative and approachable Theater Alaska, which has offered “Shakespeare in the Park” for the third summer, performing Macbeth in 2021, Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2022, and Twelfth Night in 2023. The production of Twelfth Night begins Wednesday and runs through July 30. Tickets here.
