In Greek mythology, there are two variations of Apollo: Apollo Pythios, an oracular god or prophetic deity, and Apollo Helios, the personification of the sun. In Poems of a Transsexual Nature, writer and performer Cynda Beare's Apollo is a mix of both – a know-it-all who is as hot as the sun.
Apollo has
traded “sincere for the city” moving from far north Queensland to big city
Naarm. He’s Aboriginal and transmasc; a brotherboy who has turned on Grindr to
lose himself and forget his past. His mum died when he was seventeen and they’d
been living under a house, so there was no reason to stay. Besides,
originally his mob were from Tasmania. Where is home for him now?
Trying to
find himself as a performer, Apollo’s on a bus for a theatre kid trip to the
bush to observe nature and become better artists. They’re leaving Hobart and
heading to the home of his ancestors. He remembers his mum telling him where
there’s smoke, there’s ghosts, and to keep his eyes peeled for black cockatoos.
What I
loved about this show and Cynda’s performance is how honest and unselfconscious
it is. There’s hard stuff in here about colonisation and grief and internalised
hatred of men, but it’s wrapped in a package where the young queer joy of life
shines the brightest. The text is a mix of monologue and poetry and it switches
gears so fluidly.
The humour
is sharp, aiming squarely at people’s expectations of him – and theatre’s
tendency to use people like him up for ally points. Apollo’s on again-off again
interactions with a British guy on the bus, who he feels guilty about fucking, keeps
the audience in hysterics throughout.
Cynda’s
performance is captivating, swinging effortlessly from spoken word to dance to
brief moments of audience interaction. We’re staring at him and somehow that’s
part of the barrier both Cynda and the character of Apollo want to get past; he
needs to be more than an object of fascination. He needs to be accepted on his
terms.
As Apollo
approaches his traditional land, the story and the show edge toward a more
transcendent spiritual place, which casts everything from before in sharp
relief. Confronting land and heritage is much bigger than enduring a theatre
camp on a cramped bus where he thinks fucking us all will help him forget the
trauma of his past and all the pasts that led to him.
Poems of
a Transsexual Nature
was riotous and anarchic where every element draws eloquently to the sharp,
exquisite ending. A remarkable piece of theatre.
- Keith Gow, Theatre First
The show runs until October 19
Photos:
Bambi-Jayne Photography
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