Aphanisis or On Cross-Dressing

The performance Aphanisis or On Cross-Dressing raises the question of whether diverse gender practices (such as transvestism) represent a form of subversion against the dominant discourse. One of the hypotheses it offers is that this very subversive potential may be the reason behind transphobic violence, which has not decreased over the past 20 years (from Rita Hester, Barry Winchell, Gwen Araujo to Vjeran Miladinović).

Aphanisis or On Cross-Dressing also brings into focus political cross-dressing (political vestitism), defining it as a practice whose function is to ensure that change never truly happens.

The performance features and interweaves many figures from the fields of culture and politics (both international and domestic), thereby opening up various local political issues, as well as the issue of how different social groups (e.g., football fans or far-right organizations) are used to sustain structures of power. It is thus no surprise that, in this performance, football fans and politicians appear in high heels, doctors change gender just like their patients, the authors protest from the audience, and the audience is invited to participate actively on stage.

The piece is a hybrid of dramatic, dance, physical, and documentary theatre. Actors and dancers change up to thirty costumes and traverse several centuries within the play. The performance strives to be locally contextualized (it is always adapted to the current political landscape of the given context).

Concept, text, and production: Marko Pejović
Choreography and costume design: Boris Čakširan
Music: Vladimir Pejković
Performers: Jana Milenković, Marijana Kraker, Natascha Schmelz, Predrag Kotur, Stojan Simić, Boris Čakširan
Character design and video animation: Suzana Sumrah
Dance pedagogy: Jovana Rakić, Bojana Mišić
Stage speech: Jelena Stojiljković, Milica Ponjavić
Sign language consultant: Vera Jovanović
Financial support: Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia and Prince Claus Fund

“…The piece explores what a person ‘gains’ and ‘loses’ by presenting themselves as someone with a fixed identity—whether as a person with or without a disability, gay or heterosexual, sick or healthy, a member of this or that political party. What happens if identity is not such a ‘solid category’ as some think—or wish to believe? …This is a thrilling theatrical call to reflect on political stagnation and a warning about its consequences. The play orients us to the present moment, and only if we adopt a critical stance toward it, can the future remain possible…”

— A critic’s word, Elizabeth Henley, Artburst