"Speaking Out & Fitting In!" by Alice d'Lumiere
"Don’t let the world put you in a box, but do reserve the right to make an exhibition of yourself!” Alice d'Lumiere
Striking Performance Poetry, Disarming comedy, and a celebration of Gender Fluidity from a Transwoman playfully establishing her voice.
Alice d’Lumiere generally prefers to go unnoticed; she yearns to be an ordinary person on the train, or in the supermarket. She's happy to be anonymous; a sensible, middle-aged woman…. However, she's also a Writer, an Actor and a Performance Artist; and therefore cursed with an occasional, but irresistible desire to speak up, stand out and be utterly unmissable!
Alice is also gender fluid and for her existing as a part-time Transwoman makes everyday life a complex, but intriguing adventure...
"Speaking Out and Fitting In" is a solo show in striking performance poetry and disarming comedy, with flashes of cabaret and aerial burlesque, in which Alice playfully explores the wonderful, if occasionally counter-intuitive, position of the gender-fluid individual striving to both fit in to another gender whilst yearning to establish a unique, personal voice for themselves.
The show began when Alice was asked to loan one of her performance dresses to a Museum; a privilege she thought was reserved for the deceased and royalty; she then ended the year performing in public as a live Christmas Fairy. This is a celebratory piece about how delightfully queer life can be when you decide to step beyond your birth gender.
WARNING: THIS SHOW MAY CONTAIN STOCKINGED LEGS AND TROCHAIC FEET!
Running time: 2 x 45 mins (+ interval)
Age guidance: 15+
Alice’s voice is gentle, polite, but is no less powerful, proving that a voice doesn’t need to rage to have a great impact. The second point is kindness. It’s a show created with care and compassion, and we feel welcomed into it, the house lights always at half so Alice can speak to us directly, so much so that we fit in from the moment the play starts. Her next work will feature opera. I can’t wait!
You may be wondering if you should attend her show. Having had the opportunity to watch her live on stage at her past performance... I have to say; yes
Playful, kind, occasionally bawdy, but always considerate, 'Speaking Out and Fitting In!' is a one-person show that fluidly moves through gender and identity, exploring (and occasionally exploding) preconceptions. Refusing to be put in a box, yet speaking outspokenly from an exquisitely expensive museum cabinet, Alice d’Lumiere wears their contradictions and complexity with verve and style
