synopsis

Set six months after Bea Cordelia came out as transgender during the most upheaving era of her life, Chasing Blue takes place in her bathroom in the hour she has to get ready for a fast-approaching date. Intimately autobiographical, tenderly and fiercely told through stories, poetry, music, and spectacle, Bea Cordelia's "life-changing" solo show chronicles her perilous journey toward her transgender identity, all the while asking: When everyone else has left, how can we begin to live with ourselves?

press

"BEA CORDELIA'S autobiographical solo show, "CHASING BLUE," looks interesting: Set in her bathroom as she prepares for a date only a short time after coming out as transgender, the piece explores her journey toward a new self."

"50 Essential Summer Festivals," by Stacey Anderson, Vivien Schweitzer, Siobhan Burke, Steven McElroy, The New York Times

"Masterful in the sweep of her language, with pointed prose seamlessly rippling into poetry, [Bea Cordelia] sweeps around the tiny stage of Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theater on the tides of her memories, offering her scars as gifts."

"Chasing Blue at Steppenwolf" by Ben Kemper, Kemper Corner Reviews

"Bold, unapologetic, raw, confident, and real."

Trina Maeby, Artist

"Witnessing the psychic self-harm caused by unattainable romantic expectations is both disturbing and moving."

"The Trans Theatre Festival" by Terence Diamond, Edge Media Network

"[Bea Cordelia has] raised the bar for solo shows."

Archy Jamjun, Moth Grandslam winner and writer

"In addition to being a charming, bitingly humorous hostess (slightly self-deprecating, quick footed in her conversation...), Bea Cordelia is a master poet and a sterling performer. I do not exaggerating [sic] when, each time she launched into one of her finely crafted works of word smithery I willed my ears and eyes to be a little sharper to catch every graceful link and chain. She performs her work in a rushlike...mountain waterfall, occasionally lifting a glittering phrase to catch the light, occasionally letting a sentence fall like a hammer blow."

"Chasing Blue, Or: Pearl Diving" by Ben Kemper, Kemper Corner Reviews

"'It's just a pressing thing for human beings to see.'"

"Autobiographical play explores transgender issues" by Rachel Yang, The Daily Northwestern

Chasing Blue home page photography and design credit to Juli Del Prete