Josie’s Projects
Boy by Anna Ziegler, starring Theo Germaine, dir. Damon Kiely
TimeLine Theatre Company, Chicago
Dramaturg / Gender Consultant
Described by Chicago Theater Beat as “a powerful and timely play” and PerformInk as “theatre as a call to action, conservation, and energy,” Boy is based off the real-life story of David Reimer and Dr. John Money.
Dramaturgy at TimeLine is extremely in-depth, involving significant content creation, and I was fortunate to take a research trip to the Kinsey Institute Library, where Dr. Money’s personal files are stored.
At right is a video I filmed discussing the play for TimeLine; as part of the role I also curated an immersive lobby installation and wrote many pieces, including:
For the audience: Boy ‘Backstory’ program notes (PDF)
For the cast & production team: Boy actor packet
Orlando by Sarah Ruhl, dir. Kelly Thornton
Royal Manitoba Theatre, Winnipeg
Gender Consultant
One of Sarah Ruhl’s earlist works, Orlando was based off Virginia Woolf’s novel of the same name. The titular character wakes up one day in the middle of the show and is surprised to have simply changed genders.
Royal Manitoba did an incredible job assembling a cast a team overflowing with queer, trans, non-binary, and Two Spirit artists. As gender consultant I worked with the actors, with script rewrites, and with marketing, front of house, and more to ensure we were handling the process as respectfully as possible.
Other World by Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen & Ann McNamee, dir. Adrienne Campbell-Holt
Delaware Theatre Company, Wilmington
Gender Consultant
A musical about video gamers and their game, the writing team prioritized creating characters who reflected the gaming community - including those who are trans, disabled, and of all ages and racial/ethnic backgrounds. I was one of three EDI consultants on the show, joining both as part of the casting team and in the rehearsal process.
Period Piece, conceived by Susan Cinoman, dir. Karen Carapenter
Commercial virtual production
Gender Consultant
A massive undertaking of 36 monologues, with 36 different writers and 36 different performers spread over three nights, Period Piece was a very 2021 online production.
As gender consultant my role involved doing a gender inclusivity training for the artistic team, consulting with marketing/PR/social media teams at Grapevine and YesBroadway, doing sensitivity reads of the scripts, and supporting the many trans actors and playwrights in their rehearsals.
At left is a recorded talkback I gave with Mama Doctor Jones and Dana Marlowe, the founder of ‘I Support the Girls,’ the charity partner for the performances (don’t worry, they support far more than girls). We discuss period poverty and the importance of destigmatizing menstruation for people of all genders.
Guys & Dolls, by Loesser, Swerling, & Burrows, reimagined & dir. by Nick Bowling
Northwestern University
Gender Consultant (Professional)
Perhaps the single most gender-binary show in the modern western canon, Guys & Dolls was ripe for reimagining. And by casting women as Nicely Nicely, Big Julie, and Sky Masterson, and mixing the genders of the various ensembles, we discovered a unique celebration of queerness - in particular when Sarah discovers her attraction to Sky, which in our version was also a discovery of her own queerness.
As gender consultant I helped develop the concept and supported casting, rehearsals, and the queer actors onstage.
