We were not quite sure what to expect when we popped along to see Transmission, particularly when the inimitable chat show host, Lacey Drawers (Sophie Methuen-Turner) interviewed her first guest. They talked about Adam and Eve and the legendary TERF (trans exclusionary radical feminist), JK Rowling.

Transmission is produced by the theatre company Five Straight Men who are a group of LGBTQ people who came together to create a performance exploring what being non-binary sounds like. There is a strong sense from the outset that non-binary people are individuals, a lot of fun and well worth getting to know.

Expect understated criticism of society gaslighting people back into gender-specific boxes, injecting shame and TERF feminists scattering doubt at the start.

Kath Thickett injected a huge amount of energy and humour into their performance and directed a lot of the sketches. They described a high-pitched teacher voice and befriending their northern accent instead. The fact there are no rules as to how you can talk is a theme running through the show, backed up by a wealth of information about the human voice.

The sketches were put together collaboratively with each actor doing individual research and the script was also a joint enterprise. Blythe Colquhoun wrote much of the script and appeared from time to time, humorously inviting the audience to “get poofed” and liberally handing out ‘Heinecock’ with great effect.
Nadia Lais and Crystal Begley wrote their scenes, vividly exploring how there is no language or pronoun in Portuguese for non-binary or as they put it, no correct way of expressing their identity.

Fiora Fairchild poignantly imagines calling her father: “Hi Dad, it’s me, your daughter”. There’s an insight into TERF fears, an understanding that a deep voice could be alarming in the bathroom or to your children and there’s a simple solution.

There are interviews like on a chat show and competitions, some drama between Nadia and Crystal and then informative scenes that resemble a documentary genre. For example, competitors are asked how many people complained about non-binary people on a hospital ward. The answer might surprise you.

We enjoyed this show, it was a humorous exploration of being non-binary and tackled important themes with insight. Transmission educates through humour, it’s optimistic and non-judgemental, poking fun at stereotypes and showing how conditioning from the womb undermines people’s ability to come to their own conclusions. We didn’t know that the human voice is like a musical instrument with larger instruments having a deeper pitch. If you want to know what being non-binary sounds like, pop along and see how you get on in the competition to identify the voice hosted by Lacey Drawers.

Artista, Wednesday 15th May 2024
Transmission continues on 29th May & 2nd June at Arcobaleno, tickets available here