The Young Ladies Of
Taylor Mac has first refusal of role
In 1968, 2nd Lt. Robert Mac Bowyer (Taylor’s father), while stationed in Vietnam, placed an ad asking “young ladies” to write him. Thousands replied. Thirty years after his death, Taylor uses the letters and his own text and songs to create a conversation intermingling patriarchy, war, romance, and fatherhood. By juxtaposing his Texan father’s army life in 1960s Vietnam with his own life as a New York City drag/pastiche artist, the work bridges the gap between masculinity and femininity, fathers and sons, and red and blue states.
Cast Requirements
Although I wrote this biographical play and performed in the premiere, it is not a play intended only to be performed by its author. If you want to cast someone (or yourself) who is up for playing the character of me -- have at it. A male, female, male to female transsexual, female to male transsexual, or anyone who has embraced living as the third sex can play the role. It is also possible to have multiple performers play the various ladies throughout the play if you think it would be fun to produce an ensemble version of the play.
or
1 female to man
or
1 man to female
Set Description
Single set with many props.
Honors
New York Magazine Critic’s Pick
Chicago Jeff Award Nomination -- Best Solo
Publisher
New York Theater Review, Black Wave Press
Production and Development History
Developed: Battersea Arts Center, London; Performance Space 122 and Dixon Place, New York.
Premiere: HERE Arts Center, New York with a 2008 remounting.
Subsequent productions: About Face (Chicago), Stockholm’s Sedra Teatern. Chapel Hill’s PlayMaker’s Repertory; Manchester’s Queer Up North; London’s Battersea Arts Center.