While the original version of Leona Lo's Ah Kua Show is based on her 2007 memoir From Leonard to Leona: A Singapore Transsexual's Journey to Womanhood, Lo told Fridae her New York production is a completely different script although it will "retain some of the grown-up Leona."
The publicity material tells potential audiences what to expect: "Ah Kua is a derogatory word for an effeminate man or a male transvestite. This international solo show gives voice to Southeast Asia’s transgender women (formerly typecast as ladyboy showgirls) and sets the record straight. They may be ladies, but they are definitely not boys."
She explained why she had chosen the offensive word as her title in an interview with Fridae last year: "Yes, ah kua is about the most common insult hurled at transsexuals. From a marketing point of view, we know the brazen title Ah Kua Show would surely attract attention, which is good! The title was also chosen because it is our way of re-framing a term that has a negative connotation into something positive. Ah Kua Show is a triumph of one woman's determination to go against the odds and live life on her terms - it takes strength and courage (or you can say, ironically, that it takes balls) to be an ah kua!"
Lo, who's a public relations consultant based in Singapore, plays herself, a Thai ladyboy showgirl and a Malay transgender sex worker. The last character is inspired by a true life story involving Khairy, a transgender sex worker who was recently fined S$800 by a Singapore court for behaving in an indecent manner with a client in a taxi.
"Khairy is among a number of Malay transgender sex workers who have been shamed and misrepresented as “transvestites” in Singapore’s newspapers since the 1960s. Newspapers here will only dignify their transgender subjects with the pronoun “she” post sexual reassignment surgery, but it is internationally recognised that transgender women are women even if they have not or do not intend to go for SRS." Lo wrote in an entry on the show's blog.
"The Khairy Sulaiman arrest reveals age-old faultlines in our media’s understanding (or lack thereof) of transgender women in Singapore. It exposes many unknowns about transgender sex workers in Singapore - and the male customers who use their services. It’s time for the authorities to put aside their personal biases and squeamishness, and reach out to this unique demographic in Singapore."
Lo added that the script has been carefully written to provide context to a non-local audience and that the team is "confident the universal message of gender diversity will resonate well with the New Yorkers."
Ah Kua Show
The Club @ La MaMa
74A East Fourth Street
Second floor (between Second Avenue and the Bowery)
New York, NY 10003
Tel: (212) 475-7710
Map
US$10.00 seniors, US$15.00 general. US$18 at the door
Ticketing
Dates & Hours
Sat, Aug 21, 2010, 4:30 pm
Sun, Aug 22, 2010, 10 pm
Mon, Aug 23, 2010, 6 pm
Wed, Aug 25, 2010, 4 pm
Thurs, Aug 26, 2010, 7 pm