SPF 13: Body + Blood
A fever dream, a man caught in Limbo. In the midst of a crisis, what do we remember and how? Joshua is a bartender who feels a calling to be a priest. Oh, and he also happens to be transgender. Caught between worlds, caught between his trans friend Peter and the guys at the bar and the stuffy church warden, can he make a difference in anyone’s life or is he just not enough of anything to count? What does it mean to choose visibility in a world where the visible often lack safety?
Development
Workshop as part of the Jerome Fellowship at the Playwrights’ Center 2020
Workshop, Seven Devils New Play Conference 2021
Workshop, Great Plains Theatre Commons 2022
Shannon TL Kearns is a transgender man who believes in the transformative power of story. He is an ordained priest, a playwright, and a theologian. He the co-founder of QueerTheology.com which has reached more than a million people all over the world through videos, articles, and online courses and community. He will soon be publishing his first book with Eerdman’s. Shannon is a recipient of the Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellowship in 20/21 and he was a Lambda Literary Fellow for 2019 and a Finnovation Fellow for 2019/2020. He is a sought after speaker on transgender issues and religion as well as a skilled facilitator of a variety of workshops.
Ru Sunaya Kazi is a member of the Director’s Guild of America Assistant Director Training Program Class of 2021. Ru’s pronouns are Ru/Ru’s, and They for strangers or complex sentence structures. Ru has been a member of The Road Theatre since they acted in 2019’s Spanish Prayer Book. Ru is a main stage improviser at Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre and Second City Hollywood. Ru is also on The Inclusivity Board at The Pack Theatre. Directing credits include award-winning short films for the 48 Hour Film Festival, and Victory Theatre’s production of OUR LADY OF 121st STREET by Stephen Adly Guirgis. Acting Credits include The Good Place, 2 Broke Girls, and Life In Pieces. Ru is an alumni of Stella Adler Professional Conservatory/Art of Acting Studio.
“Body + Blood”
Joshua – Alexy Hogy
Jude – Jonathan Nichols-Navarro*
Peter – Roxy Johnny Valle
Nate – Mark Irvingsen*
Andrew – Carlos Lacámara*
James – Jon Sprik*
Mary M – Elizabeth Sampson*
John – Amanuel Desmuke
Stage Directions – Isaac Gonzalez Rossi
*Road Company Member
