It Was Paradise, Unfortunately

Nowadays theatres talk about including trans people. You can’t include us in your theatre because you stole it from us. You stripped it of all its magic and meaning and function and holiness…

…It’s time for us to take it back

Several times a year, the entire Western world and beyond would come together to celebrate Dionysos, the transgender god of theatre. Thousands of people gathered for these week-long celebrations which saw patriarchal norms turned on their head. Enslaved people were emancipated, women were liberated, and the citizens fiercely competed in tragedies and comedies. It was a radical social intervention, and the birth of western theatre.

So where did it all go wrong?

Using his training as a journalist, Raphaël Amahl Khouri makes an extraordinary, ground-breaking discovery, offering a bold and inclusive new vision for theatre artists and audiences in the 21st century.

Commissioned by Outburst Arts and first shared as research-in development in the 2023 festival, It Was Paradise, Unfortunately combines autobiographical performance, live scenography, and action figures. Brilliantly developed as a full stage production by Dublin’s The Collective, this daring and surprisingly moving work goes beyond representation to situate queer ideas as key to liberation for all.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥  Stunningly clever  The Irish Times