The performances of the rock musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” coming to the Shea Theater Arts Center this October are about telling, not showing, this time.
The show, made up of a two-person cast featuring actors Charlie William and Clay Gregory and directed by Megan Healey, takes a minimalistic approach to the story of Hedwig, an East German rockstar who receives a botched sex-change surgery that inspires the name of his rock band, “The Angry Inch.”
The show was written by John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask, and originated off-Broadway in 1998. The musical was made into a movie in 2001, bringing the story wider pop culture attention.
The show explores the fraught relationship between Hedwig and her husband, Yitzhak, with themes of queer identity, expression and love as both William and Gregory play both roles at different performances, bringing new perspectives to each character.
The decision to have both actors switch roles, as well as cast non-binary actors, was a move Healey said they wanted to explore based on how casting of the show has evolved over time.
“Typically, I had always seen the role played by a cisgender, white man … and every actor I’ve seen play this role has played it with curiosity and passion and respect. But, it always felt kind of draggish and campy,” they said. “I always wanted to know, outside of the binary, if somebody came into [Hedwig] with a curiosity, of zero informed opinion on gender, where that would take us?”
With this vision in mind for the show for some time, Healy met both William and Gregory while directing a performance of “Newsies,” which created a connection between the three.
Healey said that for this show, they are centering the visuals on the two actors, relying on the perspectives and relationship William and Gregory will bring to both characters as they alternate.
Notably, the two characters experience a traumatic relationship that Healey says was written during a pre-#MeToo era when the concept of an adult-teenager relationship was not examined for the deeper, traumatic implications. To achieve this nuance, the acting will take the focus, rather than video projections that large productions of Hedwig have utilized before the tell the story.
“I always feel very passionate about the actors telling the stories and not using extravagance to get the point across,” Healey explained. “And typically, it really works.”
Both William and Gregory share that this show has been a jump back into performing in leading roles, and they’ve been able to find their own place within these two characters. William describes the role switching as offering “cyclical healing,” in that they play both characters experiencing the fictional relationship that speaks to a real experience of a power-imbalanced relationship.
“It’s almost like I’m having conversations with different parts of myself and healing them,” William said, “and by having Clay mirror me, there’s this beautiful moment at the end where we have this pass off, where there’s release and freedom, and we give the wig to the other person and shine and release and be free from the codependence of that relationship. It’s really powerful.”
Similarly, Gregory said that in playing both characters, they understand the emotional depth that comes from it. They said they also understand what is coming, and they understand the “ins and outs” of the roles. In learning the roles of Hedwig and Yitzhak, they’ve noticed the way Hedwig uses humor as a deflection during intense moments, whereas Yitzhak goes through a journey of self-realization and boundary setting, despite feeling love for Hedwig.
“He really, genuinely loves Hedwig and loves performing with her, and wants to be there for that. So there’s such a huge contrast there, which is really cool to play with,” they said.
Both actors share how being non-binary in this role as also been a rewarding experience in telling an “unapologetically queer” story, as William puts it. For Gregory, they said working with Healey as a non-binary person in a plus-size body has made theater exciting, with a vision that made them feel like they belong on the stage.
Giving back to support the trans community
As part of the performances, all proceeds will go toward the Northampton non-profit healthcare organization Transhealth, which offers care to gender diverse communities in western Massachusetts and across the state.
Healey, William and Gregory share that this fundraising is more important now than ever. Gregory says in a climate where trans identities and personhoods are under attack, giving back to an organization like Transhealth is huge.
“Doing a show like this that is just really iconic as a piece of queer storytelling and something that really interrogates gender, it feels amazing to be able to do that for an organization like Transhealth that is so important,” they said.
Healey says there is not a set goal for how much they would like to raise for Transhealth, but they say any amount is going to make a difference, and helping even one person to connect with the organization is enough.
“One person finding out that there are services like this is really the goal, and at the end of the day, if there’s money on top of that,” they said, “they’re going to be so thrilled and grateful.”
“Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” presented by Arena Civic Theater, opens Thursday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m., with performances on Sunday, Oct. 12 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m, and Oct. 14, 16 and 17 at 7 p.m. The Shea Theater is located at 71 Avenue A in Turners Falls, and tickets are available online at https://tinyurl.com/8pturmyt.
Listen to the 2014 Broadway cast recording of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” below.