←Recommendations of (trans)formada

This play is a beautiful love letter to the queer community. There is so much joy, discovery and healing that we witness as the story unfolds. It feels like a healing practice. Every step of the way we are with Sam as they discover more about themselves. This play is such a love offering that both shows us where we've been, but is hopeful and excited about where we're going.

A beautifully poetic snapshot of a moment in a young trans person's life when they're on the cusp of accepting who they are and coming to terms with who they were. Brilliant and hilarious. A poignant coming-of-age comedy that is a truly healing ritual of communion.

Every once in a while, you read a play that feels familiar and comforting. (TRANS)FORMADA is exactly that. Lily Gonzales examines what it means to occupy multiple spaces and identities at once and embraces a cathartic fluidity that is familiar to so many queer and genderqueer folk. Funny, dynamic, and deeply intimate, this play invites you to sit, smoke, and dance with its characters. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Playwrights Foundation highly recommends (TRANS)FORMADA, which excelled to the Finalist round (top 35) for the 44th annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival out of 755 plays. Our community of readers felt this play best represented the mission of our festival. This work engaged us, inspired us, moved us, and was an outstanding example of transformative storytelling. Our local Bay Area Literary Council commends (TRANS)FORMADA as a compelling, relevant, cathartic new work which should be produced now. Congratulations! #BAPF2021

There’s an inherent nostalgia to watching teens mix tequila shots with gin. These young fools… simultaneously worried about the industrial prison complex and the likeliness of a kiss. The playwright does a terrific job laying out clear stakes for each party goer, as well as the pecking order. I also really enjoyed the surreal use of the Texas Hill Country - and nature, like the night sky, trees, and water - infiltrating the undefined space and serving as an anchor point to the various events in time and space. The fluidity of the space serves Sam’s fluidity brilliantly.

My goodness! The layers of language and emotion that transcend the split stage are staggering. Gripping from the opening page, there isn't a word out of place. As Gonzalez explores what it's like to be a queer Latinx individual coming-of-age, they create an immersive love letter to family, to joy, and to the journies made within the self to reach acceptance. Really great work!

I love how the playwright explores the use of space here. The way the locations blend together in each scene perfectly captures Sam's uncertainty around how they live in their body. I also think this play perfectly captures what it's like being a teen on the cusp of adulthood. Wow!! This play is gorgeous and I'm so glad it exists.

Glorious and brave, (trans)formada is a tribute to that tipping point in which every young trans person decides whether to bind oneself to others’ expectations or to self-liberation. gonzales writes with intention and precision, cradling their characters in warm understanding and tenderness, culminating in a celebration of love.

Wow! What a gorgeous, gorgeous play. Lyrical with both everyday and heightened poetry, full of rich and saturated visuals and sound, and dynamic and compelling characters. The examination here of genderqueer identity, various kinds of betweenness, found vs. blood family, friendship, and emergence into new phases (of various kinds) of one's life is thorough, complex, and nuanced. The use of music and dance and the theatrical liminal space Sam occupies between their blood relatives and the yearning, evolving found family is boldly theatrical. I'd so love to see this onstage! I hope to do so one day.

There's something so magical about that brief span of time right before high school ends; where everything is ending, but the rest of life is just beginning. Gonzales captures this metamorphosis into adulthood with Sam's exploration of their gender as well as evaluating relationships with their family, friends, and with the world itself. Every character has a great deal of heart and truth in them, making this play a genuinely delightful read.