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Allan Morgan

David Oiye

Ilena Lee Cramer

Sarah Stanley

Greg MacArthur

what we do

word play

What is Queer Theatre? Why do I do it? Why is it so darn important that I don't just say "I'm an Artist" but "I'm a Queer Artist"? I guess I should start with what I think it is to be queer, and what separates us and them. If I'm going to identify as a queer artist, then that means that I'm differentiating myself from non-queer artists. For me it all comes down to sex. By identifying myself as a homosexual person - I am identifying an action as central to my being. A straight person does not usually run around with a T-shirt that says something to the effect of "I am a sexual being." And I do.

I'll tell you a little story to give an example of what makes queers different and how we define ourselves more closely by the sex we have. I started working at a gay club in Alaska with a fake ID - I was underage. The club scene is home to so many young homos, as they face issues of coming out into the world without the support that they expected they would have had from their families, due to… well… coming out. I had an accepting family, but I still enjoyed the home the clubs gave me and my larger 'chosen family.' I worked - and grew up - in the gay bars. Not so long ago a club I was working in Vancouver - a home - was purchased by a straight owner, and in came new management. The new GM had some major difficulties adjusting to a culture she had never encountered before in a working environment. The staff were family, and lovers. We felt we had a stake and a say in every and all aspects of the business. But the main issue she found disconcerting was the way we communicated. Sex and relationships were a number one topic for us. Things she felt were inappropriate were regular topics of conversation - the who, what, when, where, and how's of our sex lives; extreme flirting between staff members; ex, current and future-ex lovers working next to each other, comparing notes. Needless to say the new Sexual Harassment Policy was the butt of more jokes than anything else. Another issue with our different communication style was that we often did not behave in a 'professional manner.' If we were mad, we fought like brothers and sisters and when we made up, well… make-up sex (or at least affection) is the some of the best! Yes, it was as incestuous as it sounds. God I miss it!

We are different. There is a distinct Queer culture. We have different rules of appropriate behavior. I am a sexual person. Do I really need to add the 'Homo' in front of the word 'sexual' to explain who I am?

I am a woman - this is a genetic fact of my being, I am North American (a matter of geology and sociology), I am a homosexual (I DO something, and it's a fact of my being). I am an artist (I make art, again a verb). I self identify as a VERB.

I AM (I exist)
A (I am singular)
HOMOSEXUAL (I have sex with others of the same gender as myself)
ARTIST (I have a need to express myself)

I do not use the words homosexual and queer as interchangeable. Homo-sexual is very specific and exclusive. The word is somehow medicinal, an action word with little nuance. I like to use the word queer best when talking about the stuff I create. Queer - to me - is outside of sexual and gender norms. I like the word because it is more inclusive on many levels and a bit exclusive on others.

There is plenty of hetero activity that falls into 'queer.' A relationship between a queen and a butch – is technically 'hetero,' but certainly queer. My plays include elements of 'straight' kink and porn as well as gender play, drag and other homo content. There is also some homo stuff that is getting so mainstream now that it hardly seems queer anymore - almost straight. I've been seeing a lot more homosexual content on the mainstages and in the mainstream lately (not much queer). This is great on one hand - seeing homo represented - becoming more acceptable, becoming part of everyone's lives, becoming a recognized instead of abhorrent lifestyle. On the other hand much of this homosexuality still either presents queers as clowns or as sad deviants or as the simpering "I'm just like you" homos. Yes, there is some great stuff out there, but I still feel like I have to slog through far too much crap to get to a few gems. How about more unapologetic, well-adjusted (by their own standards) perverts, deviants and queers represented on the screen and stage? Or at least as well adjusted and perverted as most people really are.

I create queer art that celebrates a heightened sense of sexuality. It's good to see audiences getting into it. My stuff is really for anyone who wants to shamelessly shine their sexual energy out there for an evening. This is important - for the individual, the community - not merely for exhibitionism but to celebrate an honesty about how we are. I want to take my sexuality back from the mass media - sex sells so well it is boring now - and put it back into the bedroom (or the alley, park or back room), make it dirty and joyful again. This sexuality that permeates all I do is part of the colourful landscape of diversity in this world. People leave a Screaming Weenie show flirting with strangers.

The Weenies do theatre for a wide audience - I'm interested in reaching those who are disenfranchised by art. I overheard a patron who had been to one of our shows - twice - comment that she doesn't go to theatre. I'm happy with not being included in whatever that patron thought theatre was. A straight woman I know who is a self-professed 'square' said she left the show feeling truly proud of who she was, proud of her difference, reveling in her 'squareness.'

Back to my upbringing in the clubs, I think of theatre as a service industry - like a club. The audience is our customer - and I want them to leave not only hot, horny and happy, but also stimulated mentally and emotionally. I'm not serving up pap. Have you ever cried after sex?

Passion - people use that word a lot when talking about their work, their art, what ever it is that makes them get up everyday to do it all. Passion - the word is sensual if not outright sexual.

I see unique, interesting, creative and thoughtful work, and I'm sure it may have started with an artist's passion - but by the time audiences see the work - all that earnest WORK, thoughtfulness, originality, creativity has watered down the passion that is passed on to the audience. It is a tough balance in creating something polished/finished without losing the rough, raw, passion. I'd rather err on the side of raw.

Another little linguistic distinction (game) I like to make: I try to avoid making a 'work,' I make a 'play.' To Play can mean so many things - its inclusive, like the word queer. To play in the SM community means to participate in SM activity; it can also mean to be promiscuous (ie. she is such a player); to make sexual advance (ie. she made a play for me); a child's game or make believe.

All this is to say that it might be a bit tough to pin down the Screaming Weenies' creation method. Instinctual to the extreme. But like sex it needs to come down to respect and reciprocity with a good measure of honesty - but not too much, secrets are lingerie for the soul.