GCTC solo show traces the complex journey of parenting a trans child
iPhoto caption: Photo by Randy deKleine-Stimpson.
At a time when the world is becoming increasingly hostile to trans people, how should a parent support their trans child through the process of transitioning?
That’s the question at the heart of SweetnFab Collective’s Why It’s imPossible, running at the Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC) in Ottawa from January 21 to February 2. Described on GCTC’s website as “a play about parenting in precarious times,” Why It’s imPossible follows a mother’s journey as she learns how to help her trans son thrive amid the current climate.
“The struggle of the play isn’t about the mother’s acceptance,” said playwright Sophia Fabiilli in a joint phone interview with co-creator Zoë Sweet. “It’s about her trying to make that leap forward to create a safe and flourishing environment for her kid.”
The play is a solo show starring Sweet, who portrays single mother Beth as well as a host of other characters in her very first experience as a solo performer. “The solo show is an incredible mountain to climb,” she said. On top of this, Fabiilli’s script includes several moments of direct address to the audience — a component which Sweet originally found to be daunting.
“Initially, that aspect scared me, but talking to the audience really grounds me in the performance, and I find that I draw a lot of my energy from that,” she said.
Fabiilli and Sweet began creating the show with GCTC artistic director Sarah Kitz in Kingston in the early days of the pandemic. Despite the shutdown, they were determined to keep their creative juices flowing. As they brainstormed ideas, it became clear that being a parent was at the forefront of each of their minds; Sweet had two children at the time (she now has three), Kitz had recently had a child, and Fabiilli had and still has aspirations of becoming a parent.
“We started exploring questions about what we feel is interesting and important and challenging about raising children in these politically and environmentally uncertain times,” said Sweet from her car, her two-year-old in the backseat. “The idea came to us that the question of a parent’s commitment and their love is never the question, but rather how do we help our little people navigate this world.”
What followed was four years of development, workshops, and grant writing. Also vital to the play’s creation was a collaboration with Trans Family Kingston, a support group for families of trans folks. Through the group, the creators connected with three individuals with lived experience — a parent and their trans child, along with another trans individual — who provided feedback throughout the development process about how to ensure the play offered authentic representation.
“We really wanted to try to make sure our show was an act of allyship,” Fabiilli said. “One of the biggest takeaways from our collaboration is it seems that there haven’t been a huge number of stories about a cis parent trying to figure out how to be a support for their trans kid. So this is one story, and I hope it opens the door for many more.”
This desire to act out of respectful allyship also eventually led to a title change for the play. Previously titled Why It’s Impossible to Raise a Girl, the choice to alter the play’s name came after a member of the creative team suggested that the original title wasn’t affirming to the gender of the child in the show.
“The original was an evocative title, and our first impulse when we started making the show was that we weren’t going to say that it was about parenting a trans kid — we were just gonna say it’s about parenting, because we felt that that is what it’s about,” Fabiilli said. “But ultimately we opted to go full transparency and make sure that our title was absolutely gender-affirming.”
The play had its world premiere in Kingston this past September, with Evalyn Parry as director. While Kitz was originally set to direct, she left the project after being hired as the artistic director of GCTC.
Following the premiere, the creative team held a talkback with folks from Trans Family Kingston and some audience members. During a discussion about authorship and who’s allowed to tell what stories, a trans audience member pointed out why it’s okay — and even important — for cis people to tell these stories, too.
“They said, ‘When trans folks tell stories, they reach our own communities, but we need to extend beyond that — we need cis folks to speak up for us too,’” Fabiilli recounted. “‘We need these stories because they’re going to reach other communities and we need that support.’”
Fabiilli said the team is excited and grateful to get to put on a second production so soon after the first, allowing them to take feedback into account and make tweaks, including a slight rewrite of the ending.
Sweet and Fabiilli said they ultimately hope the play can give audience members an opportunity to think and feel, leaving parents with a renewed curiosity about who they — and their children — truly are.
“At the end of the day, the play is trying to show the messiness of parenthood, that it’s not about perfection,” Fabiilii said. “It’s about finding where the discomfort is, letting go of what you expect your child to be, getting curious about who they are, and finding the courage and bravery to try to make the world safe for them.”
Why It’s imPossible runs from January 21 to February 2 at the Great Canadian Theatre Company. Tickets are available here.
Mira Miller
Mira is an arts, lifestyle, and health freelance writer based in Toronto. She covers intersectional feminism, issues affecting the 2SLGBTQ+ community, theatre, body image, and more. In her spare time, you can find her listening to the soundtrack of a musical, watching Broad City, or dreaming about her next meal.
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