ACT COOL

A trans teen stars in the show of his life.

August runs from his religious family home in Pennsylvania into the loving arms of his lesbian aunt and the high-pressure environment of the School for Performing Arts in New York City. Determined to succeed as a trans actor who can play any role, he lands the part of Rizzo, who is a girl, in the school production of Grease and parties with his famous and wealthy new classmates (including a trans girl whose characterization is not well fleshed-out and who seems to exist mostly to process his trans angst). The stakes are extremely high: August wants to play Rizzo not just because he believes that he should be allowed to play any gender regardless of his identity, but because his parents will send him to conversion therapy if they think he’s transitioned. In a third act that feels tacked-on, August, who is cued as White, considers an acting opportunity that closely mirrors his real life. The novel raises many valuable questions around authenticity and representation in theater and in life but never quite arrives at satisfying answers. Maddeningly repetitive prose (especially in dialogue tags, where characters sing and joke ad nauseam), unnaturally rendered exposition, and an overburdened plot mar the reading experience, which would otherwise be a fresh take on familiar themes.

An off-off-off–Broadway play of a book.