#TRANSformative Stories

Anchorage Opera wants to hear yours! 

As part of each performance of As One (music and concept by Laura Kaminsky, libretto by Mark Campbell & Kimberly Reed and film by Kimberly Reed) Anchorage Opera will highlight personal reflections and memories from transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals, as well as their families, loved ones, and allies, in our own community, in order to put the theater experience of our audience into the perspective of our own social landscape in Alaska.
Get involved in one or BOTH of these projects:

Post-it Note Wall Exhibit

Seat Card Display


Post-it Note Wall Exhibit

On display in the Voth Hall of the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts prior to each performance, Feb 9, 10 & 11, 2018

Transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals, as well as their families, loved ones, and allies, are invited to share short thoughts, sentences, poems, etc. on Post-it Notes, whether signed or anonymous… all submissions are welcomed.

Respond to these questions, or just share a random expression or feeling. There are no rules!

  • Share a personal experience of how it feels to be: Threatened, Isolated, Marginalized, Dismissed
  • What is YOUR definition of gender?
  • If…your gender inside matches your gender outside…imagine what it might feel like if it didn’t, and share that
  • What do you fear will happen if an anti-transgender ordinance passes?
  • What is a metaphor for living a gender other than who you are?

To submit your Post-it Note thoughts:

  • Identity, Inc. 336 E. 5th Avenue Anchorage, AK 99501 or
  • Anchorage Opera, 1507 Spar Ave. Anchorage, Alaska 99501

Post-it Notes will be provided for your use & completed notes will be collected for inclusion in the exhibit.

Seat Card Display

#TRANSformative Stories submissions will be transcribed onto cards and placed on each of the seats in the Sydney Laurence Theatre, engaging the audience on a more personal level as they read their own seat card, before the show even begins.

Transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals, as well as their families, loved ones, and allies, are called to share a sentence, paragraph, poem, or narrative, whether signed or anonymous… all submissions are welcomed.

Stories should be a maximum of 300 characters. Multiple submissions are welcome! 

To submit your story: email Judy Berry at jberry@anchorageopera.org by Feb 7, 2018




More Info

We want each person to feel free to express his or herself however they wish, and for each Post-it Note or Seat Card story submission to be as different as the person whose story it relates. A sentence or two, a paragraph, a page, a poem, a stream of thought narrative, an expression of feeling, a drawing, signed or anonymous…all submissions are welcomed. Our show As One will relate the story of one particular trans person, but with our #TRANSformative Stories we hope to make an evening of theater more real, and bring the experience closer to home.

Need help thinking of something to write? Here are some ideas!

  1. Describe a moment from childhood when you were able to be completely yourself, in your true gender. What was it like?
  2. Describe the feeling when you first looked in the mirror and saw YOU
  3. What is a metaphor for how you felt trying to live (and be convincing) in the wrong gender?
  4. Tell of some of the most helpful things other people did for you during a rough part of your transition?
  5. Tell of a time you experienced trans-related discrimination at work, the doctor’s office, school, or other public venue.
  6. What was the situation and how is a positive way that you handled an instance of blatant discrimination?
  7. What was one area of your life that changed dramatically and positively after you transitioned?
  8. What was a beautiful reaction from someone when you told them about your gender and/or transition?
  9. Has there been a moment in your transition that you found particularly validating of your identity?

We are honored to present As One, a beautiful, socially relevant and important multi-media theater work to our community, so that we may all gain a greater appreciation of, and respect for, our transgender and gender-nonconforming community.

We look forward to working with you on this project!

Questions? Call Judy at Anchorage Opera 907-279-2557


The Voth Hall exhibit is made possible by support from the Anchorage Art Fund at the The Alaska Community Foundation.