This summer, Breaking the Binary Theatre is bringing the solo show Red Ink to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Originally written by and starring trans activist and artist Ceclia Gentili (of Pose), it detailed Gentili's search for faith as a trans woman. After Gentili passed away, Breaking the Binary Theatre's founder George Strus was determined to keep Gentili's memory alive by bringing her show not just to New Yorkers, but international audiences. Follow along this summer as Strus walks us through producing Red Ink to the world's largest arts festival, alongside fellow producers Sara Ramirez, Elliot Page and PAGEBOY Productions, Queer Arts Coalition and Nic Cory. Below is the first article in the series.
In the fall of 2023, my old pal Nic Cory invited me to a new play he had been developing and directing called Red Ink, written by and starring Cecilia Gentili. At the time, Breaking the Binary Theatre—the non-profit new work development and community building hub for transgender, non-binary, and Two-Spirit+ (TNB2S+) artists I founded—had just finished its second annual Festival down at the Public Theater. After a bit of downtime to rest, I traveled down to the Rattlestick Theater to see Red Ink on Thursday, November 2, 2023. My life has not been the same since.
I was mesmerized by the solo show, which documented Cecilia’s upbringing and coming of age in Argentina, her move to New York, her transition, and her entry into sex work. Cecilia was captivating sharing these stories from her life; it was undeniable the show was going to make her a star.
I had been aware of Cecilia’s work and had seen her on the television series Pose. But after getting home from Rattlestick, I entered into a deep dive of her life, eager to learn everything about her that I could; I purchased and read her book, Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn't My Rapist; supported the organization she founded, Transgender Equity Consulting; and devoured every interview and press piece I could find (including her powerful 2019 New York Times op-ed "Did the ‘T’ Fall Off of ‘L.G.B.T.Q.’?"). I wanted to immerse myself into her world in any way I could.
A few weeks later, we met and I instantly fell in love with her; she was hilarious, sharp, incredibly insightful, and possessed the most beautiful, motherly qualities that made you want her to adopt you. Following our chat, Nic and I began brainstorming ways in which Breaking the Binary Theatre could support Red Ink’s next step, which was a Joe’s Pub engagement in April 2024. Sadly, those conversations were cut short when Cecilia Gentili suddenly passed away on the morning of February 6, 2024.
Cecilia’s death felt, and still feels, earth-shattering. Her community filled the rows of the St. Patrick's Cathedral for her funeral to pay remembrance to the pioneering trans activist, actress, writer and sex workers' advocate. The Joe’s Pub presentations of Red Ink a few weeks later morphed into an unforgettable celebration of an unforgettable life, with Sara Ramirez, Peppermint, Qween Jean, Cayenne Doroshow, Rio Sofia, and Chiquitita performing the piece in Cecilia’s honor. It was an emotionally fraught, yet celebratory, evening wherein one thing became clear: Cecilia Gentili had written a masterful text that, despite its deeply personal nature, could be performed by other people with fruitful results.
And it was clear that though she was no longer with us, Cecilia was continuing to watch over her community in spirit.
The following week, Nic and I sprang into action to mount a production of Red Ink in July and August of 2024 back at Rattlestick. James Tom, Angelica Ross, and Peppermint performed the show for six performances each. The 2024 Rattlestick run was an incredible labor of love for all involved: Nic and his associate director and producer Joseph Frederick Allen worked tirelessly with our three performers to teach them the show. Co-producer Ianne Fields Stewart and associate producer Flower Estefania Rios orchestrated nine beautiful talkbacks and post-show performances and built an altar for Cecilia in Rattlestick’s lobby. And Tony Award-winning actor Sara Ramirez (who had performed in the show at Joe’s Pub) joined the show’s producing team.
Over the three-week run, over $35,000 was donated to G.L.I.T.S., Destination Tomorrow, and Trans Power in Diversity—three organizations that were close to Cecilia Gentili’s heart.
In Red Ink’s final week, I had to leave the team a bit early to fly to my first ever Edinburgh Festival Fringe; I was the dramaturg of Dylan Mulvaney’s FAGHAG and went to go see the show up on its feet. My five days in Scotland were some of the most thrilling five days of my life. Without exaggeration, I saw 50 pieces of theater in those five days, seeing anywhere from nine to 11 shows per day. I was riding high on the adrenaline, feeling incredibly inspired by the work, and ended up falling in love with not only the atmosphere and spirit of the Festival, but also the town and people of Edinburgh.
On the flight back to America, I made it a goal to find a show to take to Edinburgh Festival Fringe the following year, and after thinking about what that could possibly be, I realized that the answer had been right in front of me all along. A hybrid of theatre and stand-up, it struck me that Red Ink was something that could be incredibly successful at the Fringe. Upon returning, I called Nic and we began to figure out how to bring Red Ink to Edinburgh.
The first step was building a producing team for this new run: Sara Ramirez had been a part of the show since Joe’s Pub and their involvement meant a great deal to Nic and me. Luckily they agreed to continue with the work as we considered our options in Edinburgh. Academy Award nominee Elliot Page and Tony Award-winning producer JJ Maley had seen Red Ink’s Off-Broadway run and agreed to join the expanding and evolving producing team with their organizations PAGEBOY Productions and Queer Arts Coalition, respectively.
The stars began to align.
Then came the big question: Who should step into Cecilia’s shoes as we take the show international? Nic and I reread the text and tossed around a few ideas, but could not shake the idea of Chiquitita.
Chiqui is a Brooklyn nightlife performer and drag artist (2018’s Miss Bushwig) who has so close with Cecilia that she even made her the butt of two jokes in the show! Despite not having much ‘theatrical’ stage experience under her belt, she had made an incredibly strong showing in the Joe’s Pub presentation, so we brought her in for a work session. She worked with Nic for a few hours and presented some of Cecilia’s play for the producing team towards the end of the session; as she left the room, we knew immediately she was our new star. Her dynamic presence filled up the room at Open Jar Studios and her deep-rooted relationship with Cecilia meant she deeply understood these words and could honor and take care of them. It was a no brainer.
As the producing team assembled and Chiquitita was cast, then came the fun part: Figuring out how to produce a show internationally at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Do we need visas? How do I find affordable housing (and do any have air conditioning?!?!)? Where do you reserve the advertising space on the side of the street?
As I had been to the Festival the year prior, I luckily had somewhat of a foundation of all that would need to be accomplished. But it still felt daunting and overwhelming thinking about all of the steps one needs to take to pull it all off.
I began to dive into some of the online resources around producing at the Fringe, but found myself somewhat surprised by the scattered tips and tricks and lack of specificity in many of the articles I found. I wondered if there might be a better way to outline the many steps one might need to take to bring their show to Edinburgh for Fringe.
I’m grateful to the team at Playbill who are letting me share some of Red Ink’s journey with their readers in hopes it can help break down some of the barriers and frequently asked questions producers and artists have about taking their show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
That’s right. Over these next few weeks, we’ll be documenting our journey to Scotland through a few articles like this one, which we hope will inspire others to bring their own work to Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the years to come.
I, myself, will be in Edinburgh for the entire Festival and have set a goal to see at least 150 shows in the 26 days I am there. While it’s much less intense than my 50 shows in five-days schedule last year, that’s still an average of six shows per day...we’ll see how I fare! If you want to follow my personal journey, I’ll be documenting it all month over at @georgestrus on Instagram.
Check back in on Playbill in the next two weeks or so for our next piece on all the pre-production we’ve been doing to get Red Ink to Edinburgh—which includes finding the perfect venue, creating an eye-catching key art, press, and more.
For Cecilia. ❤️
