Northern Light Theatre tackles gender identity

Of all the smaller niche theatre companies in Edmonton, Northern Light has a knack for choosing topical plays.

In light of the Internet gossip after Olympic champion Bruce Jenner declared his gender identity switch, Northern Light’s Edmonton premiere of Christina/Philippe is about as newsworthy as it gets.

Christina, Queen of Sweden, and Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and younger brother of Louis XIV, were both 17th century royalty who were renowned cross-dressers.

Christina was Queen Regnant of Sweden for 20 years from 1633 to 1654. She succeeded her father at the age of six although she did not sit on the throne until 18.

“Christina was raised from childhood like a boy. She rode a horse. She could hunt and shoot and she eschewed any feminine roles. Although it was expected, she refused to marry. Some say she had facial hair. Some say she was a hermaphrodite. There were a great many scurrilous comments made about her,” said NLT artistic director Trevor Schmidt.

Ask for Philippe, who Schmidt is playing, he was just as intriguing and talked about.

“Louis was the heir and was presented as a strong leader. So Philippe was dressed in dresses from a young age to create a contrast. He (Philippe) was a military leader, married twice and had children. He would show up at court dressed as a woman and became the object of ridicule. He also had many male lovers on the side.”

Although Christina and Philippe lived during the same era, they never met. Christiana/Philippe is Canadian playwright Per Brask’s creation of an imaginary meeting between the two.

“But what happens in the play is reflected in real life,” Schmidt noted.

Schmidt first came across Brask’s 14-page play while still an undergraduate in the late ’80s.

“It was an interesting, small play. But I put it on the backburner. When I was doing this season, I knew I wanted to do something with gender roles and gender identification and it came to mind.”

However, since the play was published only once years ago, it became a challenge to find.

The 14-page script only created about a 20-minute show. To plump out the show, Schmidt, Kristi Hansen who dons the mantle of Christina and Darrin Hagen added additional content.

Much of the additional content came from in-depth interviews with a wide spectrum of people living alternate gender roles.

The interviews were recorded verbatim and will be heard as voice-overs in what Schmidt calls “meta-theatrical” theatre.

Schmidt is quick to point out the play is not attempting to push any agenda. It is simply a story between Christina and Philippe, but is filtered through a contemporary lens.

“The point is to open conversation so everyone talks about it. With most of our shows, we want you to think about it days later and have a heated discussion. Some theatre is meant to enlighten and distract you from life. Northern Light’s purpose is to engender conversation.”