Archive of Voices 2024 — Escaping the Binary: Trans Artists In Dialogue

The Archive of Voices at Tisch Drama is proud to present the third annual event in celebration of our digital archive of plays written by underrepresented voices, amplifying a multiplicity of perspectives from around the world, and queering the canon. In collaboration with NYU Libraries, this year’s event, “Escaping the Binary: Trans Artists In Dialogue" will celebrate the work of non-binary and trans artists including MJ Kaufman, Robert “Silk” Mason, Jasmine La Beija, and Sloane Spencer. Moderated by Drama alum and faculty member, Jess Barbagallo and current Drama student, Ellis Van Houten, the conversation will focus on moving between the disciplines of theatre, music and dance, and genders—trans, gender fluid, and queer artists are represented. How do gender queer artists engage their identity in their training and their life as artists? How have they innovated the industry and what is the work ahead? What are the histories or legacies these artists draw upon to make their own work and shape the future of the performing arts? We welcome you to join us for a lively conversation as well as samples from the panelists' work. Reception to follow.

Presenters

Jess Barbagallo (Co-Moderator) is a theater artist, teacher, and writer. His work has been presented at Dixon Place, La Mama, BAX, New Ohio Theater, Poetry Project, Performance Space New York, Incubator Arts Project, New York University, The Brick, Abrons Arts Center, The Park Avenue Armory (studio presentation: Prelude 2023), and Luv Story Bar. Directing credits include Pony (Portland Theater Festival), It’s That Time of the Month (Soho Rep), and The Last Podcast on Earth (The Tank). He has published writing in Artforum, The Brooklyn Rail, them, Movement Research Journal, The Cincinnati Review, 53rd State Press, and Spectrum Literary Journal. He has acted in many things, most recently Misha Brooks’ adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone (The Barn at Lee). Currently he is editing his short story collection Cherry and The Others, inspired by plays he has seen, the actors he has loved, and a life spent in the theater. And with producer/performer John Hoobyar, he’s co-curating Prelude 2024 (October 16-19) at the Martin E. Segal Center of the CUNY Graduate Center.

MJ Kaufman is a writer from Oregon based in NYC. Their plays have been seen at the Public Theater, WP Theater, NAATCO, Clubbed Thumb, Colt Coeur, Williamstown Theater Festival, InterAct Theater, Yale School of Drama and theaters and schools around the country as well as in Russian in Moscow and in Australia. They have received grants from NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre Fund, a Helen Merrill Emerging Writers Award, and the Jane Chambers Prize in Feminist Theatre and have held residencies at the New Museum, MacDowell Colony, and SPACE on Ryder Farm and is currently a resident playwright at New Dramatists. MJ co-founded the Trans Lab program which ran from 2018-2021 and is now part of the Core Community of Breaking the Binary Theatre and a member of Colt Coeur. MJ’s short film THERAPIST CRUSH won the Audience Choice Best Film Award at TRANSlations film festival. MJ has also written for Netflix and is currently developing a feature film with Anonymous Content. MJ has taught playwriting at Yale College, Fordham University, Wesleyan University, SUNY Purchase College and University of the Arts. MJ is currently an Area Head of Playwriting in the Dramatic Writing Department at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Jasmine Rice LaBeija is one of the most iconic and respected nightlife entertainers in NYC. She has had a hold on the drag scene since Pride of 2012, and she is now the International Godmother of the Royal Iconic House of LaBeija. In 2017, she was one of the main cast members on the documentary series Shade: Queens of NYC on Fusion network. She was later a host of Dragged, which won a Shorty Award in Diversity & Inclusion for Verizon’s network In The Know. She was the face of 2020 NYC Pride and a featured artist at the Guggenheim Museum. More recently, she was featured in a short film called Inside & Outwards, narrated by Sarah Jessica Parker, which has won an Emmy Award. In 2022 she was a main cast member of a short film which premiered at the Tribeca film festival. Aside from her drag career, Jasmine is also an Opera singer and a graduate of The Juilliard School. In 2022 she made her San Diego debut at the Shell with the San Diego Symphony as a special guest soloist with Megan Hilty, conducted by Rob Fisher. This year she was invited back to the Guggenheim Museum to give her solo Recital as well as her solo Lincoln Center Recital. She recently made her Off Broadway debut staring as Hillary Clinton in Five: The Parody Musical. She continues to further her career in both Opera and drag and performs around the world.

Robert “Silk” Mason is a multidisciplinary artist born in the Bronx, and raised in Columbia, SC. Robert attended The South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities for dance and The Juilliard School for Dance. They are an international award-winning film actor seen in Into the Colors, Forged in Chaos, and Hold You Down. National commercials: Facebook Messenger Rooms 2020, Super Bowl LVII Apple Music and Rihanna Halftime Show 2023, 212 Carolina Herrera Fragrance Campaign 2024. They are a published model, choreographer, LGBTQIA+ youth leader, and founding mother of the new Kiki Royal Haus of Silk. They are the original Magical Mister Mistoffeless in Cats: The Jellicle Ball.

Sloane A. L. Spencer is a producer, manager, and mentor in the theatre community, with an emphasis on facilitating the work of disenfranchised people. Sloane has spent the past 20+ years in the world of professional and educational theatre doing everything from hanging lights in storefront theaters in Chicago to balancing million-dollar production budgets for regional theatre companies in DC. Following the dream of professional theatre has taken Sloane from Detroit Michigan to Chicago, IL to Washington, DC to New York City, NY. Along the way, they have worked at Planet Ant, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Arena Stage, and Shakespeare Theatre Company to name a few. Sloane is currently the Associate Production Manager in the NYU undergraduate Drama department, where they, along with the rest of the Production Office, oversee 75+ shows per academic year. When not in the theater, they enjoy knitting and collecting fountain pens.

Ellis Van Houten (Co-Moderator, he/they) is a stage manager and theater artist from Chicago and current student at Tisch Drama’s Production and Design studio, along with a double major in Public Policy. Outside of stage management, Ellis is passionate about research, service, and advocacy work and serves as the Vice President of the non-profit Lifting Hearts with the Arts. Recent stage management work includes: A LIE OF THE MIND (American Theatre of Actors), ROMEO & JULIET, SLAW (Oak Park Festival Theatre), EVERYBODY’S GIRL (IRT) and THE ROVER (Tisch Drama Stage). When he’s not working, you can find him reading, playing music, or drinking coffee.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Bobst Library | 2nd Floor | Chase North Reading Room, 70 Washington Square South, New York, United States