Gibson got his start in Cambridge’s underground theater scene. Now he returns as the main character in P. Carl’s play about his mid-life gender transition.
I met Petey Gibson more than a decade ago. At the time, I was working as a waitress at Oberon, a bar in Harvard Square that doubled as a second stage for the American Repertory Theater. Petey was a regular onstage in those days, an impish sprite who mixed up drag and comedy and character acting in a manic cocktail. His most memorable bit was as an 86-year-old ex-vaudevillian named Mary Dolan, notable for her old-fashioned Boston accent and utterly filthy mouth.
When I went to LA, I couldn't get anyone to come to my shows. It was really shocking to me. Because in my mind, you know, Boston was a small town where we made underground art, but LA was where Hollywood was, and that's where people really valued art.Yes, and I feel really lucky that I didn't go to LA sooner because I was making art for myself and my friends. Like, I wasn't making art thinking what casting director was in the audience.
It's interesting because I read Carl's book right when it came out. And I had some issues with it. And I think it's ‘cause I wasn't ready to hear it. So after I transitioned, I reread it and it really resonated with me. And so, right now with this story, I'm really conscious of telling this particular story and knowing that I'm threading this needle of what it means to be a full and flawed and trying person. Because it's hard when niche or minority stories are told. There's so much more responsibility that you're holding because you're scared to be the, whatever it is, the angry Black person or the evil trans person.
And it happens with all people, not just trans people. Everybody, if they're lucky enough to choose themselves, goes through something like this. Trans people are just a really out-loud version of what is a tale as old as time. We have other words for it. We have midlife crisis, or we have, you know, a banker who decides to up and move to Vermont and make pottery.
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