Travis Alabanza
{{short description|British performance artist, writer and theatre maker}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Travis Alabanza
| image = TravisAlabanzaGriffTownsend.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Travis Alabanza
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1995|11|15|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Bristol, England,
United Kingdom
| education =
| alma_mater =
| known_for = BURGERZ
| notable_works = {{csv|BURGERZ|Before I Step Outside [You Love Me]}}
| style =
| website = {{Official URL}}
| module =
| awards = Jhalak Prize, 2023
}}
Travis Alabanza (born 15 November 1995{{cite tweet
|user=travisalabanza |number=1195314470056349697 |date=15 November 2019 |title=My second birthday doing Burgerz but luckily I'm in love with the show and performing! Some tickets left for @warwickarts tonight, come and bring some cake / lip gloss / candles xxxxx}}) is a British performance artist, writer and theatre maker.
Career
Alabanza started their career in the London spoken word scene, with their poems were first published in 2015, in the Black and Gay in the UK Anthology and becoming a Barbican Young Poet.{{Cite web|url=https://ypn.poetrysociety.org.uk/features/in-conversation-with-travis-alabanza-we-have-already-re-made-all-the-rules/|title=In Conversation with Travis Alabanza: We Have Already Re-made All the Rules – Young Poets Network|website=ypn.poetrysociety.org.uk|date=November 2017|access-date=17 February 2020}} Later that year, Alabanza went on tour for their theatre show Stories of a Queer Brown Muddy Kid, performing at clubs, bookstores, and performance venues across the United Kingdom and abroad.{{Cite web|url=http://travisalabanza.co.uk/stories-of-a-queer-brown-muddy-kid/|title=STORIES OF A QUEER BROWN MUDDY KID|website=TRAVIS ALABANZA.|language=en-GB|access-date=17 February 2020|archive-date=17 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217144746/http://travisalabanza.co.uk/stories-of-a-queer-brown-muddy-kid/|url-status=dead}}
They have an honorary fellowship from Rose Bruford College and have been featured as a guest lecturer and panelist at over forty universities in the United Kingdom during LGBTQ and Black History month to discuss issues related to race, sexual orientation, and gender. Their work has been featured at Duckie, Bar Wotever, And What! Festival, Hamburg International Feminist Festival, Late at Tate, the V&A, and Transmission Gallery.{{cite web|url=http://travisalabanza.co.uk/about/|title=About – TRAVIS ALABANZA.|website=travisalabanza.co.uk|access-date=24 December 2017|archive-date=22 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422000116/http://travisalabanza.co.uk/about/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.tedxbrum.com/speakers/travis-alabanza/|title=Travis Alabanza|website=TEDxBrum|access-date=24 December 2017|archive-date=22 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190222021550/http://www.tedxbrum.com/speakers/travis-alabanza|url-status=dead}} They are currently the youngest person to be awarded a residency at The Tate in 2017/2018.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-46098515|title=Battling transphobia with burgers|last=Beresford|first=Meka|date=6 November 2018|access-date=2 March 2019|language=en-GB}}
In 2016, Alabanza starred in the five star roundhouse production of Putting Words in Your Mouth by Scottee. In 2017, they began working on a solo exhibition, The Other'd Artist for Transmission Gallery in Glasgow. Alabanza released their first chapbook titled Before I Step Outside. (You Love Me); a compilation of visual art, poetry, diary entries, and essays.{{cite news|url=https://www.out.com/art-books/2017/7/20/travis-alabanzas-debut-chapbook-reflects-trans-femme-life-london|title=Travis Alabanza's Debut Chapbook Reflects on Trans Femme Life in London|website=Out|first=Justin|last=Moran|date=20 July 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://travisalabanza.bigcartel.com/product/before-i-step-outside-you-love-me-chapbook|title='Before I Step Outside [You Love Me]' - chapbook.|first=Travis|last=Alabanza|website=Travis Alabanza}} They also performed the leading role in the stage adaptation of Derek Jarman's punk film Jubilee.{{cite web|url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/38039/1/artist-smeared-by-media-after-topshop-transphobia|title=Artist smeared by media after Topshop transphobia|last=Dazed|date=11 November 2017}}
Alabanza has critiqued mainstream feminism for having been rooted in transphobia and mainstream feminists for often neglecting trans and gender non-conforming people in their discussions of progress.https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DjvZ6TIXgAECw3u.jpg:large {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}
In 2018, Alabanza created Burgerz.{{Cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-46098515 | title=Battling transphobia with burgers| work=BBC News| date=6 November 2018| last1=Beresford| first1=Meka}} This show focuses on audience participation regarding an incident in 2016 where a person threw a burger at them while walking across a bridge in London.{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/lgbtq/travis-alabanza-interview-burgerz-a3962436.html|title=Travis Alabanza interview: 'So many of us are figuring out gender. Trans people are just more honest about it'|last=Paskett|first=Zoe|date=17 October 2018|website=Evening Standard, Go London|access-date=2 March 2019}} The show ran its first UK Tour from October 19 to November 17 in 2018.{{Cite web|url=http://travisalabanza.co.uk/burgerz-2/|title=BURGERZ|website=TRAVIS ALABANZA.|language=en-GB|access-date=2 March 2019|archive-date=6 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306044712/http://travisalabanza.co.uk/burgerz-2/|url-status=dead}} It has toured globally since, with Alabanza or other performers in the lead role, closing to a sold out run at Southbank Centre in 2023.{{Cite web |last=Mulqueen |first=Kate |date=2023-02-13 |title=Performance review: BURGERZ, Theatre Works |url=https://www.artshub.com.au/news/reviews/performance-review-burgerz-theatre-works-2612086/ |access-date=2023-03-22 |website=ArtsHub Australia |language=en-AU}}
In 2019, Alabanza and Kaulbach, childhood friends, collaborated on an immersive installation titled All the Ways We Could Grow for the Free Word Centre, London.{{Cite web|title=All The Ways We Could Grow: Installation {{!}} Free Word|url=https://freeword.org/all-the-ways-we-could-grow-installation/|website=freeword.org|access-date=26 May 2020|archive-date=5 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805104143/https://freeword.org/all-the-ways-we-could-grow-installation/|url-status=dead}} The installation explores the question: "What's it like to be trans?".{{Cite web|title=Season Launch Promo Film {{!}} Free Word|url=https://freeword.org/season-launch-promo-film/|website=freeword.org|access-date=26 May 2020|archive-date=5 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805100403/https://freeword.org/season-launch-promo-film/|url-status=dead}}
In 2020, during the first COVID lockdown in England, Alabanza and Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley gave a live-streamed performance for the Free Word Centre of If I Feel Lonely Maybe U Do 2?.{{Citation|title=If I Feel Lonely Maybe U Do 2? - Travis Alabanza and Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley| date=9 April 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaZNQNt0MYQ|language=en|access-date=2021-09-30}}
Overflow, written by Alabanza, directed by Debbie Hannan, and starring Reece Lyons, was produced by the Bush Theatre in London in 2020 and 2021. It later had an Australian version starring Janet Anderson, which opened in Darlinghurst Theatre.{{Cite web|date=10 December 2020|title=Overflow review – friendship and fear in bathroom-sink drama|url=http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/dec/10/overflow-review-travis-alabanza-trans-safety-public-toilet|access-date=30 September 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=The Bush Theatre reopens with Overflow, Travis Alabanza's monologue about women's toilets|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/overflow-review|access-date=30 September 2021|website=Time Out London|date=31 August 2021 |language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Overflow|url=https://bushtheatre.co.uk/event/overflow-2021/|access-date=30 September 2021|website=bushtheatre.co.uk|language=en-GB}}{{Cite web|date=9 September 2021|title=Review: Overflow At Bush Theatre Invites You To Spend The Night In A Public Toilet|url=https://londonist.com/london/on-stage/review-overflow-at-bush-theatre|access-date=30 September 2021|website=Londonist|language=en}} The play "explores trans safety and is set in a public toilet".
In 2022, Alabanza released their debut full-length semi-autobiographical non-fiction book None of the Above: My Life Beyond the Binary. The book was listed as one of Waterstones Best Book of 2022: Politics and won the 2023 Jhalak Prize.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-29 |title=Alabanza, Jawando win 2023 Jhalak Prizes |url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2023/05/29/231559/alabanza-jawando-win-2023-jhalak-prizes/ |access-date=2023-06-01 |publisher=Books+Publishing}}
In 2023, Alabanza and Hannan co-created Sound of the Underground at the Royal Court Theatre. The play featured drag performers from London’s nightlife scene including Midgitte Bardot (Tammy Reynolds), Ms Sharon Le Grand, Rhys’ Pieces (Rhys Hollis), Chiyo, Lilly SnatchDragon, Sue Gives a F*ck, Sadie Sinner (Mwice Kavindele, founder of the Cocoa Butter Club), and Wet Mess.
Personal life
Alabanza was born in Bristol and grew up on a council estate.{{cite web |url=https://www.rifemagazine.co.uk/2016/06/interview-travis-alabanza/ |title=Interview: Travis Alabanza |work=Rife |date=14 June 2016 }}
They started making their art when they were 16 years old, helping them work through and process what adversities they were facing as a black, queer person.{{cite web |url=https://global.factiva.com/ga/default.aspx |title=Black, queer, and VISIBLE|date=1 October 2017 |work=Gay Times }} Alabanza began with their poems just as drafts on their phone, thinking they'd never show them to anyone else. After getting the burger thrown at them, they got fed up with keeping their feelings to themselves and presented their poems to their friend who was going through the same issues, which made Alabanza decide to make their works public.{{cite web |url=https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/16189221.Brighton_Festival_2018__Travis_Alabanza_on_why__trans_people_are_the_lucky_ones_/ |title=Brighton Festival 2018: Travis Alabanza on why 'trans people are the lucky ones' |date=28 April 2018 |work=The Argus }}
Alabanza identifies as Black, transfeminine, and gender non-conforming, and uses the pronouns they/them.{{cite web |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/laurasilver/topshop-refused-to-let-a-trans-person-into-an-all-gender |title=Topshop Refused To Let A Trans Person Into An All-Gender Changing Room |website=BuzzFeed |date=7 November 2017 }}{{cite web |url=https://readthemuse.wordpress.com/2017/08/02/an-interview-with-travis-alabanza-before-i-step-outside-you-love-me/ |title=Interview: Travis Alabanza on their chapbook, Before I Step Outside (You Love Me) |date=2 August 2017 }} Alabanza speaks out for trans rights and the importance of safe spaces and communities for gender non-conforming and transgender people.{{cite web |url=http://www.qxmagazine.com/2017/10/qx-meets-travis-alabanza/ |title=Travis Alabanza: The critically-acclaimed artist and performer talks harassment, visibility and perceptions of gender |first=Dylan |last=Jones |work=QX |date=4 October 2017 }} In Shon Faye's 2021 book The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice, she quotes Alabanza talking about their identity: "When I say trans, I also mean escape. I mean choice. I mean autonomy. I mean wanting something greater than what you told me. Wanting more possibilities than the one you forced on me."{{cite book |title=The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice |first=Shon |last=Faye |author-link=Shon Faye |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2021 |page=257 |isbn=9780241423141 }}, citing {{Cite book |title=Feminism Interrupted: Disrupting Power |first=Lola |last=Olufemi |author-link=Lola Olufemi |publisher=Pluto Press |year=2020 |page=49 }}
In November 2017, Alabanza was denied access to a female dressing room while shopping at Topshop in Manchester, the fashion retailer owned at the time by Sir Philip Green's Arcadia Group. Alabanza was told to use the men's dressing room.{{cite web |url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/topshop-changing-rooms-gender-neutral |title=Topshop's Gender-Neutral Changing Rooms Are a Step in the Right Direction |first=Devon |last=Elizabeth |work=Teen Vogue |date=9 November 2017 }} They left the store and filed a complaint through social media.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/08/topshop-announces-gender-neutral-changing-rooms-trans-customer/ |title=Topshop announces gender-neutral changing rooms after trans customer was refused access to female cubicles |first=Nicola |last=Harley |date=8 November 2017 |work=The Daily Telegraph }} Alabanza accused Topshop of going against their policy to allow trans individuals to use the dressing rooms associated with their preferred gender.{{cite web |url=https://www.insider.com/topshop-allegedly-broke-all-gender-fitting-room-policy-2017-11 |title=Topshop says customers can use any fitting room they like – but a trans person claims employees refused to let them |first=Susanna|last= Heller |work=Insider |date=9 November 2017 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/topshop-and-topman-make-all-changing-rooms-genderneutral-following-backlash-from-transgender-a3686506.html |title=Topshop and Topman make all changing rooms gender-neutral |first=Patrick |last=Grafton-Green|date=9 November 2017 |work=Evening Standard }} The Times published an opinion piece by Janice Turner, incorrectly implying that Topshop's policy was changed because of Alabanza's tweet and claiming the policy would lead to child abuse.{{Cite news |last=Turner |first=Janice |author-link= |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/children-sacrificed-to-appease-trans-lobby-bq0m2mm95 |title=Children sacrificed to appease trans lobby |newspaper=The Times |date=11 November 2017|access-date=29 February 2020 }} Subsequently, Alabanza received online death threats over Topshop's policy.
Works
| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Publisher ! scope="col" | Date published ! scope="col" | Type of work |
| "The Sea"
|[https://www.out.com/ OUTspoken] |April 2017 |Poem |
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3vm7OQjcQw Queer and Now]
|June 2017 |Performance |
| [https://travisalabanza.bigcartel.com/product/before-i-step-outside-you-love-me-chapbook Before I Step Outside. (You Love Me)]
| |July 2017 |Chapbook of poetry, essays, photos |
| [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3vm7OQjcQw "Who is Allowed to be a Victim?"]
|[https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/23941 TEDxBrum] |October 2017 |Performance/TED Talk |
| "TRANZ TALKZ"
|Hackney Showroom |October 2018 |Dinner & Performance |
| BURGERZ
|Arts Council England |October 2018 |Interactive Performance |
| "THE HEEL OF MARSHA"
|Gay Times |October 2018 |Poem |
| All the Ways We Could Grow
(collaboration with Denny Kaulbach) |London's Free Word Centre |February 2019 |
| [https://travisalabanza.bigcartel.com/product/my-stubble-has-no-gender-print MY STUBBLE HAS NO GENDER] (collaboration with Denny Kaulbach)
| | |
| If I Feel Lonely Maybe U Do 2? - with Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley
|Free Word Centre |9 April 2020 |Live-streamed performance |
| Overflow
|2020–2021 |Play |
| [https://royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/sound-of-the-underground/ Sound of the Underground]
|2023 |Play |
References
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Category:21st-century English poets
Category:English performance artists
Category:English spoken word artists
Category:Black British LGBTQ people
Category:English LGBTQ rights activists
Category:English non-binary artists
Category:English non-binary actors