![]() ![]() At one stage Rosie implores cis women to think about what they say and do when their trans friend is not in the room, and not only reactively, once discrimination arises. And for this reviewer, it provoked me to reflect on how I have held myself in certain situations. It invites you in and trusts you with the truth. And impressive live water effects devolve the setting into something else entirely.Īlabanza's script is raw, honest, and sometimes blunt in the way it discusses the trans-femme experience. The scenery evolves with clever use of lighting (by Benjamin Brockman) and sound (by Danni A Esposito): gently throbbing colours and deep bass transport us to the illicit dancefloor, and thudding noises and shocks of fluorescent lighting hurtle us back into the danger of the present. Dimitriadis also designed the set, a scuzzy nightclub bathroom hemmed by brutal metal and slick surfaces. Their recent credits include plays that explore queer and trans experiences, such as Cleansed and Angels in America Parts I and II at the Old Fitz, Lady Tabouli at the National Theatre of Parramatta, and De Profundis with Paul Capsis. She doesn't look for trouble it finds her.ĭirector Dino Dimitriadis’s (they/them) award-winning personal legacy of championing intersectional theatre is in full force here. Rosie is funny and smart and hurt and just trying to survive and find joy. ![]() Seemingly effortlessly, she holds the attention of everyone in her orbit, seamlessly switching gears to impersonate Rosie’s associates and their various British dialects. The sole performer, Janet Anderson (she/her), gives a career-defining performance, heartfelt and heart wrenching with great comic timing. Rosie is a young trans woman who distracts herself with memories of bathroom encounters – drunken heart-to-hearts by the dirty sinks, friendships forged in front of crowded mirrors. Overflow is not the first show to be set in a club bathroom – Hot Mess by the General Public did this, and brilliantly so – but in a first for Australian mainstage theatre, this story is told by an all trans and gender-diverse team. ![]() It gets its thoughtful Australian debut care of Darlinghurst Theatre Company. But when sensationalist headlines stir up misled fears about transgender women and what they’re doing in ladies’ loos, somewhere that was once a safe place for relief and respite for gender-non-conforming people can become another realm of discomfort, even danger.īritish playwright Travis Alabanza’s (they/them) critically acclaimed one-act play Overflow is a hilarious and devastating exploration of women’s bathrooms, who is allowed in, and who is kept out. Whether you remember her for drying your tears, complimenting your outfit, borrowing your lipstic k, or offering you a tampon (or a bump), no one will ever be a bigger cheerleader to you than the random girl you meet in the women’s toilets at a nightclub.Ī place safe from men and free from judgement – though not always free from irksome spills and smells – public restrooms can be unlikely havens and places of communion. ![]()
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