From the press release:
Uncovering the Mirrors | Performance Art featuring Rebecca Kling
Tuesday, March 26, 7:00 p.m. | Armory Free Theater
Uncovering the Mirrors travels from Rebecca’s first explorations of gender at six years old, naked and uncomfortable in her body, to the Bar Mitzvah that gendered her as a “man,” from the hormones coursing through her blood, to a future as fragile as glass. Uncovering the Mirrors confronts the gender policing we all experience in our day to day lives, and asks how to live with regrets, push beyond mistakes, and look in the mirror each morning without flinching. Cosponsored by Inner Voices Social Issues Theater, the Women’s Resources Center, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center.
Lunchtime Trans Ally Workshop featuring Rebecca Kling
Wednesday, March 27, 12:00–1:00 p.m. | Women’s Resources Center
In this workshop, students will learn how to be allies to transgender and gender non-conforming people in their lives. Rebecca Kling is a transgender artist and educator who explores gender and identity through solo pieces and educational workshops. Her multidisciplinary performances incorporate conversational storytelling, personal narrative, humor, movement, video projection, and more. Kling takes the position that sharing accessible queer narrative with a wide audience is a form of activism, and that understanding combats bigotry. Cosponsored by Inner Voices Social Issues Theater, the Women’s Resources Center, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center.
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Rebecca Kling is a transgender artist and educator who explores gender and identity through solo pieces and educational workshops. Her multidisciplinary performances incorporate conversational storytelling, personal narrative, humor, movement, video projection, and more. Kling takes the position that sharing accessible queer narrative with a wide audience is a form of activism, and that understanding combats bigotry.
Rebecca has performed her material around, in nine states and at over a dozen festivals. Some highlights include Chicago (The Athenaeum Theatre, Temple Gallery, Links Hall, About Face Theatre, Center on Halsted, the DCA Storefront Theatre, and more), the 2010, 2011, and 2012 Chicago Fringe Festivals, the 2011 and 2012 Kansas City and Indianapolis Fringe Festivals, San Bernardino, California, and elsewhere.
Rebecca has received praise from The Chicago Tribune, TimeOut Chicago, Newcity Stage, and Centerstage Chicago, and more. (Click here for more press information.) Rebecca regularly speaks at high schools and universities, including Northwestern University, Columbia College, Roosevelt University, Loyola University, Harold Washington College, Butler University, Smith College, Bucknell University, and elsewhere. She has been a recipient of the Chances Dances Critical Fierceness grant, an Illinois Arts Council Grant, and Chicago Community Artists Assistance Program funding.
Rebecca’s writing has been published at Jezebel, in Chicago IRL issues 1 and 2, Bodies of Work, the Center for Classic Theatre Review, and elsewhere. For a behind-the-scenes look at her writing process, check out her blog. She also occasionally contributes to In Our Words, a queer Chicago blog.
A graduate from Northwestern University’s Department of Performance Studies with an Adjunct Major in Animate Arts, Rebecca Kling is also an instructor at the Piven Theatre Workshop, and on the Pride Films and Plays board of directors.
These events are cosponsored by Inner Voices Social Issues Theater, the Women’s Resources Center, Hillel, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center.
Free and open to the public. Parking will be available for free in most U of I lots after 5:00 p.m. For information regarding convenient parking, contact the Women’s Resources Center. The Champaign Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD) provides service from many lines to a bus stop in front of the Illini Union, half a block from the Women’s Resource Center. For bus schedules, call the MTD, (217) 384-8188.