By Lya Carrera
In Newsweekly Contributor
Published Newspaper: In Newsweekly
Published Date: January 18, 2006, Issue 15 22

NEW GLBT THEATRICAL TROUPE TAKES ON GENDER IDENTITY, FAMILY AND GENERATIONAL ISSUES IN LATEST FARE, OPENING AT THE BCA ON JAN. 13

As “being gay” is accepted into the mainstream, the number of visible queer theater companies in the greater Boston area has been increasing over the years from none 20 years ago to seven in 2005. Companies, such as Ryan Landry & The Gold Dust Orphans, The Theater Offensive, Another Country Productions, All the Kings Men, the Princesses of Porn with the Dukes of Dykedom and Drag Kings Sluts & Goddesses have entertained Massachusetts with their own unique shows whether it be plays, drag performances or poetry slams. Now it’s Queer Soup’s turn.

Queer Soup was formed three years ago and is producing the play “Home,” about a family’s struggle to come to terms with the fact that their grandfather was born female. It opens at the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) on Jan. 13.

“We’re the new queers on the block,” says Karen “Mal” Malme, who is a cofounder and plays the character, Kai, in the production. Renee C. Farster, a Wharton graduate and current director of “Home,” is also a cofounder along with Jess Martin and Kim Hoff.

Farster says the company was born on the night of a successful fund-raising event of two precursors to Queer Soup: Brian & Mal Show and J. Rene Productions. The two companies merged soon after.

They named their company Queer Soup after the fund-raising event but also for other reasons too.

“Queer really encompasses who we all are, from the original founders to the four that are left, because we may not all identify the same way as far as gender spectrum, but we’re definitely all queer,” Farster says. “It’s soup because we’re all very different people and you need a bunch of different ingredients, but then in the end it’s really tasty and you still have your individual flavors.”

And the soup created is enjoyed not only by a specific audience but by a larger one as well.

“We do have a strong, queer trans following,” Malme says, “but our audience is broad.”

Farster says their demographic is typical of a small theater: “20s to 50s, middle income and college educated. It also skews a bit more toward women but men are present too.”

And not only do audience members like the plays but so do the actors who are eager to perform in them.

“I think that they are talented in their writing and also in their performance,” says actress Cheryl Singleton, who plays the character Nana in the production. “There’s not a lot of nonsense even when it’s campy; it’s campy with a purpose. It’s smart.”

One reason why many are drawn to Queer Soup could be the various themes expressed in their plays, especially in “Home.”

“The question of gender, gender queer, and faith [comes up in the play], and how we manage to be a family and a community and still be able to love each other through all that difficult stuff,” says Toni Amato, writing coach and editor. Amato is performing again on stage after being away from the acting scene for 20 years. He plays the character Pappi in the production.

Farster says that there are other themes that are found in their plays, such as family, sexual power and empowerment, power in general, and female empowerment.

And it is with these themes Queer Soup fulfills its mission statement to “introduce, unite, and incite audiences by using laughter to smuggle ideas across society’s borders.” Sometimes, if warranted, these idea exchanges occur in “the pay what you can” in Q & A “Talk Backs.” There are panelists who talk about their experiences, and then the audience can ask questions, comment or discuss the issues in the play.

Queer Soup produces two plays per year. The company is funded by the cofounders and through fund-raising events.

“Yolanda, My Love,” which is about a woman who experiences the joys and agonies of passion in New Mexico, is slated for this summer. Martin, who wrote it, won a Massachusetts Cultural Council grant to produce it.

In addition to plays. Queer Soup also holds drag king and improv workshops as well as traveling shows. Moreover, the members believe in “giving back” to the community, and they donate some of their proceeds to nonprofit organizations, such as The Network/La Red, which is a GLBT domestic violence prevention organization.

Queer Soup not only has a purpose but so do its artists. “I would like to perform and create theater that shakes, empowers, and moves people,” says Malme. “I would love for Queer Soup to be the vehicle because the four of us have an energy together; we just click and we have amazing ideas plus we have lots of fun together.”

For more information about Queer Soup and ‘Home,’ connect to www.queersoup.net or www.bostontheatrescene.com.