Indelible: Reflections on Queerness in the Performing Arts was a free showing of both music and community focusing on LGBTQIA+ representation in the arts. It was put on by the Lowbrow Opera Collective, whose mission is to find the intersection between queer representation and artistic expression on stage.
The showing began with an introduction to the Lowbrow Opera Collective, going over what they are and explaining how they are attempting to push the opera industry forward, platforming queer artists and making an accessible and diverse space for people to experience the arts.
They then transitioned into three short one-act opera snippets, each of them bold and passionate, commanding the attention of everyone in the room with their resonant voices and the excellent piano accompaniment. The performances included selections from both Achilles and Patroclus and Erika Meyer’s Seven Songs of Emily Dickinson.
Following the heartwarming opera performances there was a short intermission leading into a questioning panel with Stephanie Clare and Dean Williamson. The panel led the audience on a journey throughout the history of queer representation within the arts, emphasizing the importance of giving validity to the experiences of the people of the past as well as the necessity for positive queer representation within media and the arts.
The panel was very inspiring, imparting the idea to the audience that theater is larger than life, an outlet for pure emotion, something that allows for a performance of happiness that transcends the boundaries of identity. The panelists talked of their hopes for the future, focusing on the intersectionality of queerness and the arts in conjunction with the normalcy of the human condition.
I found the showing to be a very approachable and easily digestible exposure to queer representation within the arts, and Lowbrow Opera Collective did an excellent job combining performance and discussion. I would definitely recommend anybody interested on topics of queer identity and positionality to see any shows that they put on in the future.