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Trans Performance Exchange
Trans Performance Exchange : From My Land to Yours is a six month long project between two trans artists, Emma Frankland (@notyetarobot) and Tamarra (@tamarra_____ ) - an exchange of information, knowledge and love between their homes in the UK and Indonesia respectively, supported by British Council Arts, Indonesia
Emma and Tamarra will each create six digital postcards which will be exchanged each month between March and July 2021. These will be released on instagram each month, along with other related content. @trans_performance_exchange
Hearty
“We Are a Hearty Sisterhood”
We must bury our knowledge until the apocalypse passes.
Bearing wings made of sharp knives and shooting fireballs into the air, Emma tackles the current media fascination with trans lives and interrogates the controversial bio-technology of HRT.
In part, a response to her experiences with trans people in Brazil, Sulawesi and Turtle Island - Hearty is about how we can be prepared for the challenges of modern trans existence, whilst listening to our ancestors and preparing the way for those who will come after us.
Hearty is the fifth and final solo show in the None of Us is Yet a Robot project - a series of performances which have been a response to her gender transition and the politics surrounding trans identity over the past seven years.
In 2021, we filmed a version of Hearty (in collaboration with Rosie Powell and Keir Cooper) which was premiered at RichMix as part of a collaboration between TGirls on Screen and Fringe! Queer Film Festival. More screenings are planned. If you are interested in screening the film, please contact Emma via the contact page.
As well as making the film, we were able to commission three conversations between the trans, travesti, Two Spirit and Bissu people who contributed to the project - these can be viewed via these links:
Cole Alvis and Lauren (War) Greene - Turtle Island - https://vimeo.com/880528338
Bissu Eka and Tamarra - Indonesia - https://vimeo.com/880535351
Pri Bertucci and Jacqueline Gomes de Jesus - Brasil - https://vimeo.com/880539215
“Emma Frankland is the punk rock angel of your dreams and nightmares”
The Stage
“Hearty is a siren call to remember the trans warriors of the past and to prepare for the future, the coming storm. This is a performance that comes doused with fire, suffused in ritual, born of pain and also a steely determination.”
Lyn Gardner, Stagedoor
“A ferocious cry for the safety of trans women, Brands don’t lead revolutions. People like Emma Frankland do”.
The Guardian ****
“There is also something hymnal about the production. A sense of ritual drives her message home. Through fire, she connects with her queer and trans ancestors, channelling their beauty, their fear and their hope for the future.”
A Younger Theatre
Hearty was originally commissioned by The Yard Theatre and supported by Arts Council England
It was made in collaboration with Myriddin Pharo, Keir Cooper, Rachael Clerke, Ivor MacAskill and Joshua Pharo
If you are interested in booking future performances of Hearty please contact us
River Adur Duet
During the Summer lockdown of 2020 - between two new moons, I explored the river that I live on as research for a performance called ‘River Adur Duet’, commissioned by Farnham Maltings to reflect this extraordinary time and connect with my local community in Shoreham-by-Sea.
I live on a boat, in an estuary, which means that twice a day the tide comes in and out. It is a neither / nor place - not land and not sea. Not fresh water and not salty.
It is brackish and wild. It is in-between.
The tide seemed a perfect metaphor for this moment; the river a perfect environment to create a live performance that could be socially distant.
A ritual dance
in, and with, the river.
River Adur Duet is a performance created by Emma Frankland, supported by Farnham Maltings. Film by Rosie Powell.
Rituals For Change
“We who are changing
We who invite trouble
We who leave this place different from when we came in”
First performed in 2016 and since performed across the UK and at festivals around the world (including Mix Festival, Sao Paolo and UK:ID, Jakarta) Rituals for Change was a series of performed rituals, responding to my gender transition and to universal feelings about change - especially in relation to our bodies.
Critically acclaimed, Rituals for Change used materials with different transformative properties - such as water, clay, earth, salt and ink - to create strong visual imagery which was messy, intense and celebratory.
In 2019 it was transformed into a film, in collaboration with Rosie Powell, which can be found at the bottom of this page. The film was awarded Best Cinematography at Trans Pride Brighton Film Festival and has been screened at festivals around the world.
For enquiries regarding live performances, public screenings or talks in relation to this production, please get in touch.
“The radical act is to exist.
The radical act is to be seen,
To choose to allow others to see these radical bodies.
To allow ourselves to heal is the radical act”
Rituals for Change was created in collaboration with Myriddin Pharo, Ivor MacAskill and Keir Cooper. It is featured in “None of Us is Yet a Robot - Five Performances on Gender Identity and the Politics of Transition”.
Emma Frankland’s euphoric Rituals for Change is [a] near- perfect twinning of content and form. A hymn to mutability, an earthy, messy sacrament to constant evolution and alteration, it charts her gender transition in a series of gnomic, interlocking actions.’
* * * * * The Stage
'immensely lyrical... explicitly political’
The Scotsman ****
“Brave, tender and brilliant.”
Matt Trueman **** WOS
"This is a private, beautiful, evocative piece of theatre. It is story- telling at its simplest and bravest”
Liz Allum, British Theatre GUIDE
We Dig
We Dig was an exhilarating theatre project led by Emma, alongside a company of trans performers. Built from conversations with trans women and trans feminine people around the world, particularly the UK, Indonesia and Turtle Island (Canada), We Dig centred around the actual excavation of a giant hole - a literal representation of a queer community needing to bury itself for protection. It formed part of the closing season of OvalHouse Theatre, one of several unique commissions to help demolish the historic building through performance.
We Dig was a collaborative devised process with other trans artists, including Travis Alabanza, Morgan M Page and Tamarra.
We Dig was performed by a changing company of trans femmes, with a surprise guest performer each night.
“mournful and magnificent”.
Lyn Gardner, Stagedoor
“Frankland skilfully weaves multiple themes together. We Dig is a well-structured and powerfully direct piece of theatre that mines the earth to create an illuminating and enthralling performance.”
The Stage
“Emma does what you expect, providing strong eloquent monologues, even whilst operating a pneumatic drill”.
LGBTQ Arts Review
All Apologies
“Kurt Cobain was trans. Kurt Cobain was a trans woman. What if…”
All Apologies questions our desire for trans celebrities and what happens when they do not exist - delving deep into internet discourse, classical mythology and radically mis-remembering Nirvana’s iconic 1994 MTV Unplugged concert.
Written and performed by a two time Fringe First award winner, it fights back against the pressure on trans people to mold ourselves into images that are acceptable to society and the danger that lies when we are not able to live as our full, vibrant selves.
“Such an eye opening, mind blowing show” audience member
Originally concieved as a cabaret piece performed at Trans Pride Brighton, Glastonbury Festival, Outburst Festival, Belfast and Buddies in Bad Times, Toronto - Emma has developed this into a full length solo performance, touring in 2025.
Rosie Powell, 2024
I am having a conversation with my younger self... I’m apologising.
For not having the words
For wasting time
For not learning the guitar...
For allowing myself to feel ashamed.
For not trusting myself sooner.
Cabaret Acts
Emma frequently appears at club nights and events presenting short performances.
Previous pieces have been inspired by Cher, Kurt Cobain and Prince William.
Please enquire regarding current acts.
Arts Council Wild Conference
This was an event run by Slung Low, “for people who care how culture works in the UK and pledge to commit time and effort to take action to make it better.” Wild Conference was for passionate people who wanted to listen, engage and share ideas and then leave the conference prepared to take responsibility for making positive change happen.
Emma performed as part of the “Wild Cabaret” a performance highlighting the lack of diversity on UK stages.
e g g / b o x
e g g / b o x’, was a one-on-one performance taking place inside two giant cardboard boxes about biology, hormones, sea cucumbers and our place within the planet.
e g g / b o x formed part of the None of Us is Yet a Robot project - a series of performances which have been a response to Emma’s gender transition and the politics surrounding trans identity over the past seven years - recently published by Oberon Books as “None of Us is Yet a Robot - Five Performances on Gender Identity and the Politics of Transition”.
Doodle
Doodle, is a giant durational live-drawing conversation that takes place over 5–8 hour periods.
It has been performed in many locations including Forest Fringe, Edinburgh; Wadham College, Oxford Trans Pride, Brighton and as part of Dialogue Festival in London.
Doodle formed part of the None of Us is Yet a Robot project - a series of performances which have been a response to Emma’s gender transition and the politics surrounding trans identity over the past seven years - recently published by Oberon Books as “None of Us is Yet a Robot - Five Performances on Gender Identity and the Politics of Transition”.
Don Quijote
An exploration of Miguel de Cervantes’ novel, combining incredible visual imagery, anarchic performance & original music. This production caresses & assaults the senses in their interpretation of this 400 year old text.
The title role was played by a secret guest performer, unique to each date.
Devised by Emma in collaboration with Keir Cooper, Carlos Otero and Anton Coimbra and performed across the UK and in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at Tempo Festival.
Don Quijote was selected for the British Council Showcase for Drama & Dance 2013.
Postcards from the Gods - Andrew Haydon
****
THE GUARDIAN
.
‘a whirlwind of joyous disintegration that sees the novel emerge resplendent from its own destruction.’
TIME OUT (CRITICS' CHOICE)
.
‘In an epiphanic volta of anarchic punk rock and uncoiled rage, it becomes a savage denunciation of cynicism and a lionised defence of idealism.’
THE SKINNY
.
‘I can’t remember the last time i felt this grateful to a piece of theatre...A blast of dark light and hopeful hopelessness... More than ‘performance lecture’ this is really ‘performance literary criticism ’
TV BOMB
.
Liszt
Part of JAKOB FICHERT's project focussing on the first two volumes of Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage).
This was an evening of music and poetry with myself and pianist Jakob Fichert.
“The title Années de Pèlerinage, Years of Pilgrimage, evokes many associations and these works radiate a sense of a radical inner journey. The creation of Liszt’s Years of Pilgrimage span across almost his whole adult life, and range from the youthful virtuoso to his late experimental style.
Here, Fichert and Frankland respond to Liszt’s music and words, with a playful but faithful interpretation of the piece for contemporary audience. One thing is for sure, it speaks to much more urgent issues than simply being a homage to the Swiss Alps!