Transition 2: Event Review

Just over four months ago we attended our first-ever transition event (which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2022/10/01/transition-event-review/) which was a night showcasing and supporting those in the trans, non-binary and intersex community. Facilitated by the wonderful Queer Emporium and hosted by the incredible Justin Drag, this night included pay what you can gender affirming haircuts and nail painting with a very insightful panel discussion where the audience could anonymously ask any questions to a collection of professionals and those would have gone through their own personal gender journeys. While this first event took place in the middle of the royal arcade, the latest iteration was performed inside of the brand-new cabaret stage at the Wales Millennium Centre! The sparkly new venue allowed this version of the trans-inclusive showcase to really step up the production value of the show with a plethora of lights, a booming sound system and a curtain to really amp up the drama of each new act gracing the stage but also boasted a wonderful array of delicious cocktails brought directly to your table however, the Cabaret bar layout did prevent the popular gender-affirming services from the first event to return.

This entire event was organised by and hosted by the drag king sensation Justin Drag who helped to introduce acts, entertain the crowd and even treated us to a wonderful vocal performance later in the show! Justin was the consummate host having the audience laughing throughout, hyping the audience in anticipation for the upcoming performer and even delivering insightful and powerful advice as a trans-man during the panel at the end of the show. Thank you the wonderful organisation Get the Chance we were able to recently attend the press night of the musical celebration of Welsh queerness Queerway (which you can read our thoughts on at https://getthechance.wales/2023/02/06/review-querway-leeway-productions-wmc-by-rhys-payne/?fbclid=IwAR3OnKjpMA5gMaf0xbFcmT49m2JBYQH8KsPDGJhOYTj97e_5lTFBbXlugy8) which also stared Justin. The audience was treated to a performance of the wonderfully emotional “The me thats in my mind” which is a song inspired by an interview he did in which he talked about his own gender dysphoria experiences. This song was beautifully performed and in my opinion, was even more emotional than when we saw it as a part of the new musical! While on the topic of this new musical, One of the most emotional songs in Queerway was “I love you anyway” which talks about a mother’s experience with a transitioning child. Kate Griffiths reprised her role of the supportive mother (with the real-life inspiration of this number being sat next to me in the audience) and managed to flawlessly replicate the overwhelming series of emotions experienced during the Welsh musical performance in this cabaret-style setting which again left the multiple audience members in tears!

Alongside Justin, this event was headlined by the world’s favourite drag Vegetable Carrot who I know as the drag mentor of Linus Carp for his performance in ‘Diana: the untold and untrue story’ (which you can read our review of at https://rhysreviews.com/2022/12/05/diana-production-review/) which is actually head to Cardiff in the coming months! Carrot delivered one of the most unique performances I have seen in a very long time with their parody of “Creep” which talked about being a sheep which had the audience roaring with laughter throughout! To close the show Carrot performed a parody of the iconic ‘Mein Herr’ from Cabrette which was a farewell to the idea of the gender binary with a sprinkling in the chair gymnastics that this song has become synonymous with! This number was the perfect way to end the show which not only showcased Carrot’s performance abilities but also fitted the over-arching theme of the event. The audience were introduced to Cairo who is an incredible trans bodybuilder who interestingly performed an incredibly moving spoken word poem that talked about how “energy doesn’t die, it transforms” which is a beautiful way of talking about transitioning. Bodybuilding has a reputation of being hyper-masculine and almost being superficial due to its focus on appearance, but seeing an extremely successful athlete share his emotions goes some way of helping battle this unfair stigma! In the second act, Cairo showcased his bodybuilding experience in a number where he stripped down and showcased a series of classic bodybuilding poses. The juxtaposition of the raw emotion of spoken word poetry to this wonderfully sexy performance was so powerful!

The entire show was opened up by amazing trans performer Ali Bama (who can be found on Instagram at https://instagram.com/ali_bama_offical?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=) who laid herself bare during an emotional spoken word piece about her own personal gender journey. She talked about feeling out of place in her body, joining an LGBT+ support group and discovering drag! Not only being the first performer in the line-up but also offering a personal and raw account must have been incredibly terrifying but Ali seemed extremely confident on the stage! One of my favourite performances in this event would have to be Dallas (who you can follow at https://instagram.com/theevolutionofarthur?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=) who delivered a wonderfully sensual performance of Macho Man by the Village people which channelled his ballroom background while stripping from a leather outfit to an incredible harness by the end of the number! Just like our first experience of the transition events, this show contained an incredibly important Q and A panel (made up of Justin, Cairo, Carrot and the mother who is the inspiration for the song I love you anyway Cari-Ann) who discussed viral topics such as safe ways to bind, signing up to gender services and trans men preventing themselves looking like their fathers! See those who have experienced some form of gender journey (that being their own or others) is so helpful as people in the audience may be going through similar experiences and have no idea who to go to for support. The questions were delivered completely anonymously meaning anyone could ask whatever they need to know which proved that the team in this iteration of the show had created a safe space!

Overall, transition is an extremely important event that celebrates the often overlooked sections of the LGBT+ community which is important right now more than ever! The panel discussions covered a range of viral themes and topics which can only help those in the audience experiencing similar gender journeys while still managing a sprinkling of light-heartedness to keep the audience in a joyful mood! Each performer brought something totally different to the stage which made for an extremely entertaining show where the audience were excited to see what they next person should showcase! I would rate this event 4.5 stars out of 5!