Nisha Rathode (Editor)

Sunny Drake

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Nationality
  
Australian

Website
  
www.sunnydrake.com#!

Years active
  
15

Name
  
Sunny Drake

Born
  
1977
Brisbane, Australia (Indigenous Jaggera-Turrabul land)

Occupation
  
Writer, Actor, Producer, and Educator

Known for
  
Trans* and Queer Theater

Notable work
  
X, Otherwise, No Strings(Attached)

No strings attached trailer by sunny drake


Sunny Drake (born in 1977) is an artist from Brisbane, Australia (Indigenous Jaggera-Turrabul land) and currently lives in Toronto, Ontario. He is best known for his multidisciplinary performances on queer and trans* politics.

Contents

Sunny drake


Artistic career

Drake has been a professional performer, writer, producer and educator for over 15 years. Training in fire twirling, an early performance was as the Sumerian Goddess Innana in "Innana's Descent" performed as part of a Deep Ecology Training with Joanna Macy in Denmark Western Australia in 2001. He was the first general manager of Propel Youth Arts(youth arts development and advocacy group in Western Australia). He has run several hundred workshops on topics ranging from trans* education to political and leadership education. Currently he is the Emerging Creators Unit director with Buddies in Bad Times Theater, which is the world’s largest and longest running queer theater. As well as educating and mentoring, Drake is continuing to create his own original work. Drake also feels strongly about exploring serious topics with humor, as is demonstrated by his various original works.

X

X is a performance piece that explores addiction via humor using puppetry and stop motion animation, as well as Drake’s stage presence. Drake created this piece because of his personal struggles with alcohol, as well as the large issues of substance abuse within the trans* and queer communities. His work was praised as handling the difficult topic of addiction with tact and creativity.

Other-wise

Addresses Drake’s transgender history and relationship with his family, as well as being uncertain with one's identity. Sunny used this work to explore how he couldn't come out to his family, and then performed this piece for them as a coming out letter. He also explores transphobia, white privilege, and misogyny in regards to his burgeoning trans male privilege.

“Most of my work is autobiographically informed. I take my own story, lift it out into the living room of people’s own experiences and then place it within larger political narratives. My work is usually like my guts hung inside-out,” says Sunny Drake.

No strings(Attached) (Previously called “Transgender Seeking…”)

While dating in the digital age the protagonist is trying to give up romance cold turkey, which proves difficult by getting caught in monogamy vs. non-monogamy debates and struggling with jealousy. Presented through a monologue created with acrobatic choreography, projections, and sound. He explores the mainstream relationship model, and how these expectations effect queer dating-as well as non-monogamy vs. monogamy. He has performed this piece around the world at various universities, conferences, festivals, etc.

“Charming and disarmingly clever… Drake is one of those rare provocative performers who are uber smart but ultra cosy at heart…” – Gscene, Brighton UK

Gender

Drake identifies as a femme trans man and a feminist and explores this identity through his artistic work. Drake doesn't feel that his trans* identity should dictate how feminine he is or isn't: as when he was first meeting other trans man they were all very masculine, but he likes frilly things, enjoys communicating, and sharing emotions-which do not negate his male identity. So, instead of throwing off all things feminine during his transition he has instead embraced traditionally feminine presentations, such as sometimes wearing makeup. At times he's found his non gender binary presentation has made him feel isolated from the trans* community, but he has found others trans* people that have felt similarly and come into a deeper understanding that there's a myriad of ways to be trans*. Also, in conversation with Joe Macdonald on masculine trans* identities Drake shares that he is learning how to be a feminist man, which also means recognizing his male privilege.

The Glamorous (?) Life of…

Drake’s popular blog The Glamorous(?) Life of... is a platform to speak on topics like performances, his gender presentation, and political issues. One of his most widely read posts(35,000 views) is “Racism is To White People as Wind is to the Sky”, which critically engages with white privilege. This post was shared extensively through other platforms and organizations that are interested in anti-racism work. Other posts have included: discussions on his struggles with addiction and resulting sobriety, how trans masculine people can be allies for femme people, and how baffling to others-but freeing to him-he finds his queer/gay identity, which has been used in a study guide for a production at the theater Studio 180.

Boy Tit Finale Summer Collection

Boy Tit Finale Summer Collection is another blog post, which is a goodbye to his "boy tits"(breasts) through a fashion shoot with the photographer Tania Anderson, accompanied by some poetic parting words. The process involves embracing his feminine and masculine sides, while both showcasing and covering his boy tits.

Awards and nominations

· SummerWorks RBC Arts Professional Award (2013)

· NOW Magazine for “Outstanding Performance” and “Outstanding Design” on “X” (2013)

· Calgary Critics Award Nomination for Best Technical Design for “X (2015)

· TELUS Newcomer Professional Artist Finalist (2014)

Performance highlights

· Brisbane Powerhouse (AUS 2015)

· San Francisco International Arts Festival (USA 2010)

· USA National Queer Arts Festival (San Francisco, 2008, 2010 & 2012)

· Third Street Theatre at the EPCOR, Calgary (Sept-Oct 2014)

· FCAC Melbourne (2015)

· JUTE Theatre (Cairns, AUS 2015)

· Full Throttle Theatre Townsville (Aus 2015)

· ArtsworX (Toowoomba, AUS 2015)

· Nambour Civic Centre (AUS 2015)

· Nuovo Cinema Palazzo (Italy, 2015)

· Theatre North (Launceston, AUS 2015)

· SummerWorks Performance Festival (Toronto 2013)

· Roundhouse Performing Arts Centre, Vancouver Queer Arts Festival (July 2014)

· Metro Arts Independents season (Brisbane, AUS 2012)

· Northern Arts & Cultural Centre, Yellowknife (2015)

· Midsumma (Melbourne 2009, 2010 & 2015)

· New Mardi Gras (Sydney 2009 & 2010)

· Gasworks Arts Centre, Melbourne (AUS 2009)

· The Basement/ the Pink Fringe (Brighton UK 2013)

· Casa de Cultura Ruth Hernandez (Puerto Rico 2013)

· Intrepid Theatre (Victoria 2014)

· NACL Catskills New Theater Festival, NY(USA 2010)

· Feast, Adelaide (AUS 2009 & 2010)

· UNDER THE RADAR, Brisbane (AUS 2009)

References

Sunny Drake Wikipedia