 |
||
Transforming Faith Special EventTransfigurations--Transgressing Gender in the BibleA new theater piece written and performed by Peterson Toscano
Drawing on inspiration from one-on-one interviews with transgender and genderqueer individuals, Peterson weaves their experiences with the stories and lives of transgender, genderqueer and gender-variant people right on the pages of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. Hilarious and deeply moving, Toscano deepens well-known (and lesser-known) Bible stories as he presents an array of characters with an array of genders. Who are these transgender Bible heroes (and sheroes)? You will just have to see Transfigurations for yourself!
Peterson's Bio As a gay man, Peterson's journey out of the closet has been long and complicated. After years of submitting to reparative therapy through counseling, ex-gay support groups, and even three exorcisms, Peterson enrolled in the ex-gay residential program, Love in Action. He graduated successfully from the program nearly two years later, but in January of 1999 he finally came OUT and fully accepted himself as a gay man. Later in 1999 Peterson founded p2son productions and began performing his one-man play, Footprints--An Inspirational Comedy. A comic character actor and a playwright, Peterson often draws on poetry, the Bible and other texts as well as extensive interviews to inspire his theater work. Known for his flawless character transformations, Peterson literally changes the way his whole body and face appear on stage along with his voice and accent. He made his professional acting debut in the Peter Hanke play Kaspar at Cafe Bustello, NYC (1989). His film credits include "Star Queen--A Star is Bored" (2002) and Eli Parker's Getting Married? (2001). and Fish Can't Fly (2005), and is slated to appear in the documentaries This is What Love in Action Looks Like (2008) and For Such a Time as This (2008). Peterson has been featured in the US Media including The New York Times, People Magazine, the Montel Williams Show, Public Radio International, Current TV and The Tyra Banks Show. Peterson has also presented his work internationally in Canada, Cameroon, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, England and Wales. He is featured in German and Swedish Wikipedia and has been interviewed on radio and Television in Europe and the UK. Peterson's published writing credits include pieces he has written for The New Statesman, New York Blade, and Planet Out. In 2007, along with fellow ex-gay survivor, Christine Bakke, (with technical assistance from Steve Boese) he launched Beyond Ex-Gay (bXg), an on-line resource for ex-gay survivors. Together with SoulForce and The University of California at Irvine, bXg hosted the Ex-Gay Survivor Conference--Undoing the Damage, Affirming Our Lives Together. Also in 2007 Peterson premiered two new theater pieces, The Re-Education of George W. Bush--No President Left Behind and Transfigurations--Transgressing Gender in the Bible. He has begun work on his next piece which will explore race relations in the US, the Arab-Israeli Conflict and Father/Son issues through the story in the Hebrew scriptures of Abraham and his servent Elieazar. Peterson currently lives in Hartford, CT and is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) in West Hartford, CT. His ministry among fellow Quakers has been endorsed through the form of a Travel Minute. He maintains three blogs (he's a little addicted to blogging, oh, and vlogging)
|
|
|
© Community of Welcoming Congregations |
||
In this one-person play, theatrical performance activist, Peterson Toscano, unearths transgender Bible characters--those people who do not fit in the gender binary, and who in transgressing and transcending gender, find themselves at the center of some the Bible's most important stories. 