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Breaking the Binary Theatre founder George Strus; BTB performers Ari Notartomaso (center) and Amanda Toi Meating
This theater collective is working to make sure transgender and nonbinary people have a seat at the theatre — both on and off-stage.
Broadway has finally begun to make more space on stage for people who don't adhere to the gender binary. Meanwhile, there are people behind the scenes who are using their power to create opportunities for gender-nonconforming individuals across the theatre industry — both on and off-stage. One of those creatives is George Strus, the founder of Breaking the Binary Theatre, an artist collective dedicated to helping transgender, nonbinary, and Two-Spirit+ (TNB2S+) artists “come together to reclaim [their] artistic license and liberty through a number of initiatives,” and pay the community what they’re worth.
Strus tells Out that they spent years working in the theatre industry, yet never found a space that centered the trans and nonbinary community. “I was thinking a lot about the lack of opportunity a lot of the people in my community were feeling and sensing, so I decided to just do something about it,” they say.
The original idea for BTB was to host a single, seven-night festival that featured work entirely created by the trans community. Following the success of the inaugural festival in October 2022, Strus decided to make it an annual event, paving the way for the organization to expand with new initiatives and programs. Among those are BTB Across America, in which BTB partners with regional theaters and other community spaces to work with and develop work by local trans artists.
Earlier this week, Breaking the Binary announced details of its fourth annual BTB Festival, which begins on October 20 and will feature a one-night-only concert performance of The Drowsy Chaperone at Carnegie Hall, starring a host of notable trans and non-binary actors. The show will be directed by L Morgan Lee, who was nominated for a Tony for her work in A Strange Loop. Emmy-winner Laverne Cox will take on the title role, with actress and trans activist Joslyn Defreece playing Underling.
The star-studded cast list doesn’t end there. Alex Newell, who made history as the first nonbinary actor to win a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, is set to portray Janet Van De Graaf; Emmy winner Jonathan Van Ness joins the cast as Man in Chair; RuPaul’s Drag Race star Peppermint will be Mrs. Tottendale; and Betty Who is going to portray Robert Martin. More casting announcements are yet to come, says Strus, who feels lifting up trans and nonbinary actors aligns with the current political moment.
In addition to the New York festival, the collective is also taking Red Ink, the last show written by the late trans activist Cecilia Gentili, to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, marking BTB's first time bringing a show to the acclaimed festival. Gentili was a central figure in the LGBTQ+ activism space in New York City, who worked in top positions at the HIV/AIDS care nonprofits GMHC and Apicha, as well as co-founding a free clinic for sex workers, and DecrimNY, an advocacy group working to decriminalize sex work in New York.
Gentili was a force to be reckoned with, and her play proved that. Strus saw and was moved by early performances of Red Ink, before Gentili passed away in February 2024. “I always think about how she meant so much to so many people because of her vast body of work,” Strus says. “I knew her primarily as a theater-maker, and even in the short amount of time that we did spend together, it was clear why, because she ended up meaning so much to me, too.”
Before its international debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on July 30, which kicks off a month-long run in Scotland, Red Ink will host one show in New York City on July 25. Trans actress Chiquitita will lead the show, playing Gentili and depicting her story as a young trans girl in rural Argentina during the 1970s. The casting is fitting, Strus says, because Gentili and Chiquitita had a close relationship. “It becomes this meta-theatrical moment, and it’s really special to see someone who was so close to her take on her words and take on her voice in this way,” Strus tells Out.
Strus is working with actors Sara Ramírez and Elliot Page to bring the show to life. “With BTB, [Strus] is carving out an intentionally transformative space throughout the year for trans and non-binary artists to collectively dream, create, develop and build,” Ramírez said in an emailed statement to Out. “It has been a joy to witness so many talented artists and cultural workers shine in a space dedicated to their artistic liberty. Working with George and the rest of our team on lifting Cecilia Gentili’s legacy through Red Ink is a labor of love dedicated to Cecilia and the communities she loved and fought for so fiercely.”
And the work isn’t done for Strus; they are just getting started. In addition to BTB, they’ve already made a name for themselves in the commercial theater industry, serving as a co-producer on several notable projects centered around queer voices, including the Sufjan Stevens show, Illinoise, Stephen Sondheim's final musical, Here We Are, Cole Escola’s Tony-winning play Oh, Mary! (which they say has been “the joy of [their] life,”) and &Juliet. They also have more than 30 projects in various stages of development that they’re working on.
Strus says they're proud of the ways BTB has combated a common misconception that there wasn’t an abundant trans and non-binary theatre community. What BTB has “been able to do is really bring that community now to the forefront, so that folks now are aware of the beautiful breadth of talent in this community,” Strus says.
Moises Mendez II is a culture journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. He covers internet culture and entertainment including television, movies, music, and more. For the last two years, he was a Culture Reporter at TIME Magazine. Before that, he was a freelance journalist and his work has appeared in The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Fast Company, and more. Moises holds a master's degree in Arts and Culture journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
Moises Mendez II is a culture journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. He covers internet culture and entertainment including television, movies, music, and more. For the last two years, he was a Culture Reporter at TIME Magazine. Before that, he was a freelance journalist and his work has appeared in The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Fast Company, and more. Moises holds a master's degree in Arts and Culture journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
