I Was Always Here
A Trans Generational Theatre Project
using real trans voices to tell trans history
I Was Always Here started life as a creative, intergenerational arts project bringing together trans+ people of different ages to explore identity, joy, hope, and futurity through art, music, writing, poetry, and storytelling. The goal was to take the lived experiences of a wide range of trans people and transform them into a verbatim theatre piece that explores and celebrates trans existence through the ages.
This was achieved through a series of workshops hosted by Theatre For Life and Beyond Reflections in which trans people were invited to express themselves artistically, share their stories, and contribute to the creation of the piece. These testimonials were built on by writer Kit Miles (pictured) and their team of creatives (all trans themselves) to weave a beautiful tale of trans joy, strength, resilience, and immortality.
The Project
The Workshops
The material used to create I Was Always Here was gathered from real trans people over a series of collaborative creative workshops. Each Workshop had a different theme and were held in a mixture of locations to try and reach as many people as possible.
The themes were:
Locating ourselves through writing (Online)
Joy Through Art (Southampton)
Hope Through Poetry (Portswood)
Identity Through Music (New Milton)
Objects that mean something (Online)
Time Capsules and Utopias (Southampton)
Efforts were made to make the events as inclusive and accessible as possible; financial aid was provided to some participants to pay for their travel expenses, others benefited from having a Beyond Reflections volunteer escorting them through the workshop. As well at hosting in a range of locations, some of the workshops were held online, so folks who either find it difficult to leave the house or lived too far away from any of the workshops were still able to attend.
Not only did the workshops provide the I Was Always Here team with material to create a script, but they also proved a safe and welcoming environment for isolated trans people to unwind, be creative and make new friends. Something that is so rarely afforded to trans people.
“Friends and acceptance [at the workshop] gave me hope to feel safe each week – even when everything else was difficult around me at the time.”
— Workshop attendee
Many participants expressed gratitude for the project, saying that it has helped them feel seen, heard and able to express themselves creatively in a room with other trans+ people. For one participant, they noted that they had no other opportunities like this and wanted more of them.
The results from the workshops were a diverse range of poems, songs, paintings, and other inspiring insights to the trans experience.
Creating the Play
Once the testimonials were gathering it was time to turn them into a showstopping theatre piece!
It was important that as many members of the trans community as possible were involved in I Was Always Here’s production. That way the authenticity and connection to trans voices could be maintained all the way through the project’s timeline. To this end, four trans actors, a trans writer, trans composer, trans creative producer, and trans stage manager were hired.
Rehearsals have taken a collaborative approach, starting from the verbatim material collected in the workshops and layering on them, adapting them into scenes, songs, and soliloquies. The actors have been able to insert their own experiences as trans people into their roles, creating a feeling of profound truth that can so often be missing from stories about gender diverse folks.
Meet the Cast and Crew
“I’m deeply invested in this opportunity because, as an older trans woman, I’ve seen how our stories are so often overlooked or dismissed. There is a real disconnect between the younger and older generations in our community, and as a woman of colour, I know we often experience the world through a different lens. We don’t always speak the same language, and that gap can become a barrier. As a Black trans woman with decades of lived experience, I bring a perspective that is both deeply personal and culturally informed. My journey has been shaped by navigating multiple layers of identity, race, gender, class, and visibility and these intersections give me a nuanced understanding of resilience, vulnerability, and community dynamics. These are qualities I naturally bring into my acting work.”
Kim (She/Her): Actor
“Whenever I get to be on stage, I consider it an immense privilege. Touring as a trans performer, I acknowledge the responsibility that comes with it, alongside my other intersections as a Disabled, Black, Working-Class artist. It’s very easy to think, with media representation being what it is, that coming out is reserved for people of a certain age. It’s odd to be considered an “elder,” when some people who look up to me have embraced their true selves long before I did. They’re my role models. The fear that leads to isms and phobias, both external and internal - It’s not a generational thing. Its roots come from miseducation and the environment you grow up in - what you get to witness and what you get to be around. This show feels like an antidote, a balm, to counter misconceptions or peddled narratives. What better company could I ask to be a part of, than “Theatre for Life”, to embrace that.”
EM (They/Them): Actor
“As a trans person surrounded by trans people, I feel quite embedded in the trans community. I have played in a football team for the last 5 years which features an intergenerational mix of trans people and have in the past worked with National Youth Theatre on a project involving trans children from the local area. I regularly organise a group to march at Trans Pride and attend protests against the erosion of trans rights in the UK. Having been out for almost 10 years, I feel I have engaged with the trans community in a number of ways, as both someone very new to it, and someone able to support those who are now new to it.”
Frewyn (They/Them): Actor
“I have been working with Theatre for Life for about 3 years now. This is my third project, and it was such an honour to be invited to write this play. I think it is more important than ever to have plays, performances, pieces of work that are made for trans people, by trans people, that platform the joy and beauty and diversity of our community. As someone from Southampton and kind of the surrounding areas, it's been so wonderful to get to spend time with the trans people from my hometown. and locate those stories that so often go unheard… Regional voices are so often left to kind of disappear. And so, to get to make a show that explicitly gives that voice back to and projects the voice of those people whose stories are so often unheard is such a joy.”
Kit (They/Them): Writer
“Creating and being a part of trans theatre is my biggest passion. I trained in musical theatre (I'm a singer and have alright guitar skills) and thought I would never be able to transition and be an actor. But I'm doing it. I've been performing in drag for 7 years; I am a clown and last year I had the privilege of being a part of SK Shlomo's 'GOB - Goddexes of Beatbox'. Being a part of an entire gender non-conforming cast was really special and is my biggest wish for my performing career going forward”
Arlo (He/They): Actor
“The best part about this project is I get to work with four amazing trans actors and performers and a mostly trans team. And everyone is very talented, kind, interesting, creative. They're teaching me things all the time. It's been such a pleasure to collaborate with them. The thing that's different about this project to other projects is feeling able to explore ideas that are really important to me as a trans person, as a composer, and having people that understand me on a kind of intrinsic level to share that process with, that's pretty special.”
Freddie (He/Him): Composer
The Result and What’s Next
Was Always Here aims to break down the barriers between trans people of different generations, to help us find our common past, and acknowledge the people that paved the way for us to exist today.
Whilst also being a fun theatre experience for everyone, regardless of gender identity. Filled with music, spectacle, and real trans voices. It’s fabulously raw and not to be missed
Tickets are available to purchase for I Was Always Here’s initial run at the Mayflower in Southampton. We hope to be able to tour the show and bring it to as many people as possible, dates for Portsmouth have already been secured (we’ll see you in November!) and we’re looking to see which other fantastic venues will host us. Watch this space!