Anna Rose Ii-Epstein

Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alum Anna Rose Ii-Epstein ’07, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s Acting program, is co-producing [Trans]formation, a world premiere production devised entirely from the works of — and performed by — transgender, genderqueer, intersex, and non-binary artists. In this new devised work, co-produced by Ii-Epstein’s theatre troupe Nothing Without a Company with The Living Canvas, nude performers embody the expressive power and diversity of the human form under evocative projections to reveal, instead of conceal, every body’s beautiful possibility. [Trans]formation explores the naked truth of gender identity. The show has low-priced previews Tuesday-Wednesday, November 15-16, at 8 PM each night. Preview tickets are $15 — or only $8 for students and theatre industry professionals.

Here’s a promotional video for the production:

[Trans]formation opens Thursday, November 17, running through December 17 at The Vault at Collaboraction Studios, located in the Flat Iron Arts Building at 1579 N. Milwaukee in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets for the run are $15 for students and industry. (Use the codes “STUDENT” or “INDUSTRY” when ordering tickets.) For tickets, click here.

Prior to each performance of [Trans]formation there will be a short artistic “Portrait” of a local transgender/non-binary artist. Following each performance there will be an optional discussion and opportunity for audience members to participate by “transforming” their own bodies under the projections onstage.

[Trans]formation is a collaboration between Nothing Without a Company, whose mission is to support LGBTQIA artists by providing a safe and creative space to explore their voices and talents, and The Living Canvas, whose mission to celebrate and nurture the beauty and expressive power of all human bodies.