"Perhaps John Lyly was a trans woman?": An Interview about performing Galatea's Queer, Transgender Stories

Abstract

Abstract:This is a discussion between the UK theater maker Emma Frankland and early modern scholar Andy Kesson of their upcoming production of John Lyly's Galatea, which they have been exploring with a cast of queer, transgender, Deaf, and racially diverse performers from a range of performance backgrounds often excluded from classical theater. This dialogue takes the form of a reflective two-way interview as they move toward a full production of the play, and encompasses their focus on inclusivity, the play's queer potential, and the importance of getting practitioners and scholars into creative dialogue in which both sides are equal parts of the conversation. As such, this feature in the special issue is not a traditional scholarly article, but an attempt to represent in print a live conversation about a work-in-progress production.