Travis Alabanza

‘When you are someone that falls outside of categories in so many ways, a lot of things are said to you. And I have had a lot of things said to me.’ In None of the Above, Travis Alabanza examines seven phrases people have directed at them about their gender identity. These phrases have stayed with them over the years. Some are deceptively innocuous, some deliberately loaded or offensive, some celebratory; sentences that have impacted them for better and for worse; sentences that speak to the broader issues raised by a world that insists that gender must be a binary. Through these seven phrases, which include some of their most personal transformative experiences as a Black, working-class, non-binary trans person, Travis Alabanza turns a mirror back on society, giving us reason to question the very framework in which we live and the ways we treat each other.

Reflections on Life Beyond the Binary

None of the Above

Hurled words. Thrown objects. Dodged burgers. A burger was thrown at Travis Alabanza on Waterloo Bridge in 2016. From this experience they have created a poetic, passionate performance piece based around the 'burger': the texture, and taste of being trans. Their experiences include verbal abuse, ostracisation and being thrown out of a Top Shop changing room. The piece also explores the black trans experience.

Burgerz

A “humane and heart-rending” memoir exploring what it means to live outside the normative boundaries imposed by society, from an award-winning trans writer and performer (The Guardian). In None of the Above: Reflections on Life Beyond the Binary, Travis Alabanza considers seven phrases people have directed at them throughout their life. These phrases—some deceptively innocuous, some deliberately loaded or violent, some celebratory—have fundamentally shaped Alabanza, both for better and for worse. But these phrases also illuminate broader issues about a world that insists on gender as a fixed identity. Alabanza considers the meaning of gender, and the role it plays in a world that rigidly and aggressively enforces the binary. Drawing from their experiences as a racialized queer person, Alabanza deftly interrogates our current frameworks around identity with nuance, openness, and humor. The result is a meditation on doubt and language that turns a mirror back on society, and on ourselves. By heralding transformative futures, None of the Above questions what we think we know—and shares new ways that we might live.

Reflections on Life beyond the Binary

Debbie Hannan

Ladies, Gentlemen, and then all the legends that have realised gender is a trap – introducing the Sound of the Underground. Out to the electric night, where the base line jumps in the backstreet light and the beat goes round and round. The sound of the underground is the sound of duct tape, lighting cigarettes, jangling tips and a whole lot of chaos. This is not your average night at the theatre. Legends of the London Queer club scene come out from under the gutter to take over the Royal Court Theatre. Expect punk, profanity and a fierce fight about workers' rights written by Travis Alabanza and co-created and directed by Debbie Hannan. Hold for applause. Bring some change. Tip generously. Travis Alabanza's first play for the Royal Court spotlights London's iconic underground club culture and questions what it means to get your money's worth when it comes to art. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at London's Royal Court Theatre in January 2023.

Sound of the Underground

"Club toilets have taught me more about sisterhood than any book." Cornered into a flooding toilet cubicle and determined not to be rescued again, Rosie distracts herself with memories of bathroom encounters. Drunken heart-to-hearts by dirty sinks, friendships forged in front of crowded mirrors, and hiding together from trouble. But with her panic rising and no help on its way, can she keep her head above water? From internationally acclaimed writer and one of the UK's most prominent trans voices, Travis Alabanza (Burgerz), comes a hilarious and devastating tour of women's bathrooms, who is allowed in and who is kept out. This edition was published to coincide with its premiere at the Bush Theatre, London in December 2020. The production was the first play to reopen the theatre following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Travis Alabanza

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