According to an old wives’ tale, thirty-five is the life-expectancy of trans women. This figure is not supported by solid data; the myth gains currency from the fact that, in our small-spirited society, trans women continue to have it hard.
In one of its sharper moments, the show even suggests this life-expectancy myth is perpetuated by those who wish it true.
Written by Jo Clifford and Bayley Turner, and performed by Turner, Thirty-Six is life-affirming. Though bearing witness to the challenges faced by trans women, it celebrates survival and community.
Turner makes clear she’s deeply grateful for her friendship with Clifford. Having passed the thirty-five hoodoo, Clifford is valued for resilience, wisdom and hope.
Through the use of projection, voice over, amplification, music, and some poignant props, director Kitan Petkovski creates a show of theatrical richness.
Turner has a terrific stage presence and great comic timing. Her wonderfully warm delivery infuses the performance with a deeply affecting honesty.
Regardless of the veracity of the life-expectancy myth, Life’s opposite awaits us all. It’s rare for theatre to look clear-eyed in this direction. (This piece even offers an eschatology – though perhaps the offer is merely playful.)
In referring to us all, I’m not trying to so universalise Thirty-Six that it loses its vital focus on the particular: the experience of trans women. I’m simply expressing its spirit: that the Truth is for us all.
Paul Gilchrist
Thirty-Six by Jo Clifford and Bayley Turner
presented by Aperture Productions,
at The Loading Dock Theatre, QTopia, until July 18
Image by Andrew Kim
Theatre Red 
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