New Utah play, 'Eric(a),' focuses on one human story of transition
Utah stage » Solo production explores personal journey of a transgender man negotiating the cultural forces of identity.
By ben Fulton
| The Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment2/55867873-223/eric-bennett-sanderson-transgender.html.cspWhen Utah playwright Matthew Ivan Bennett set out to write a play about a woman in the process of becoming a man, he soon discovered that dramatizing transgender themes was every bit as fraught and wary as introducing them into casual conversation.
The fact that he interviewed numerous transgender people in person and online helped, of course. It just didn't make writing the script any easier.
What began as an idea for a three-person play in November 2010 morphed into a different setup. When that draft stalled, Bennett gave the idea a rest. It wasn't until actor Teresa Sanderson suggested Bennett consider writing a one-person play, a suggestion relayed by Plan-B Theatre Company producing director Jerry Rapier, that Bennett started a third draft, which became "Eric(a)." Even considering his prodigious playwright's pen, Bennett counts it as perhaps the most difficult play he's ever written.
