Playwright Lauren Gunderson presented Writing Trans Realities w/ Scott T Schofield + Nic Sommerfeld livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 24 April 2020 at 2 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 4 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 5 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 22:00 BST (London, UTC+1) / 23:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC+2).
Lauren spoke with Scott Turner Schofield and Nic Sommerfeld about writing Trans lives, stories, and characters in theatre (more than ones who come out and/or die at the end); casting trans actors, honoring pronouns, opening up rehearsal and more. This is going to be a really great conversation about how we can open up writing, casting and the realization of stories onstage to think beyond gender.
Nic A. Sommerfeld is an Oakland based actor and playwright who received their Theater degree from Santa Clara University. They have acted in plays and musicals with companies all around the Bay Area. These credits include, the California Shakespeare Theater, Berkeley Playhouse, FaultLine Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, and The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. Nic has written short plays for The Olympians Festival, Shotz, and has been featured in The Best of Playground 18' and 19'. They have also acted and consulted in readings for new works with NCTC, Magic Theater, and others. When not writing or doing theater, they frequently perform as their drag king persona Chester Vanderbox.
Scott Turner Schofield toured three solo performance pieces around the US and Europe starting in 2002. He was a solo artist by necessity, before transgender actors became a presence in mainstream culture. He received a National Performance Network Creation Fund grant and a Princess Grace Foundation acting fellowship for his live performance work.
In 2015, Scott became the first openly transgender actor in daytime television, with a recurring role on CBS’s THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL. He recurs on Amazon Prime's STUDIO CITY and received International critical acclaim for his lead role in the 2018 feature film THE CONDUCTOR.
Shofield's first book, Two Truths and a Lie, was a Lambda Literary Award Finalist in the drama and transgender categories. In addition to other film and TV projects, he is currently consulting on HBO’s EUPHORIA; the role he helps create on that show has been called “TV’s most interesting trans character” (Daily Beast) and “the future of TV” (Marie Claire). His one man show—Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps, is now a groundbreaking multimedia project premiering at the 19th Annual Tribeca Film Festival.
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