Thursday 3 July 2008

Peterson Toscano in Malta 18, 19 July, Drachma

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=15599629882

organised by Drachma LGBT Malta


Friday, July 18, 2008 at 9:00pm: The Re-Education of George W. Bush

Saturday, July 19, 2008 at 9:00pm: Transfiguration - Transgender Bible Stories

Warehouse No. 8 Marsa, Malta

Contact Email: drachmalgbt@gmail.com

€11 per show or €15 for both shows

Description

On the 18th and 19th of July Drachma in collaboration with Warehouse No. 8 is organizing Peterson Toscano’s (A theatrical performance activist who thoughtfully and humorously explores queer issues): ‘The Re Education of George W. Bush’ & ‘Transfigurations-Transgressing Gender in the Bible’.

Peterson Toscano studied Theater and English Literature at City College of NY after which he worked as a teacher and the director of education at CASES, a NYC alternative program for youth offenders. In 1995 he moved to England then Zambia to work in radio production for a Christian mission.

As a gay man, Peterson's journey out of the closet has been long and complicated. After years of submitting to reparative therapy through counseling, ex-gay support groups, and even three exorcisms, Peterson enrolled in the ex-gay residential program, Love in Action. He graduated successfully from the program nearly two years later, but in January of 1999 he finally came OUT and fully accepted himself as a gay man.

Later in 1999 Peterson founded p2son productions and began performing his one-man play, Footprints--An Inspirational Comedy. A comic character actor and a playwright, Peterson often draws on poetry, the Bible and other texts as well as extensive interviews to inspire his theater work. Known for his flawless character transformations, Peterson literally changes the way his whole body and face appear on stage along with his voice and accent.

He made his professional acting debut in the Peter Hanke play Kaspar at Cafe Bustello, NYC (1989). His film credits include "Star Queen--A Star is Bored" (2002), Eli Parker's Getting Married? (2001), Fish Can't Fly (2005), Chasing the Devil: Inside the Ex-Gay Movement (2008), and is slated to appear in the documentaries This is What Love in Action Looks Like (2008) and For Such a Time as This (2008).

Peterson has been featured in the US Media including The New York Times, People Magazine, the Montel Williams Show, Public Radio International, Current TV and The Tyra Banks Show. Peterson has also presented his work internationally in Canada, Cameroon, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, England and Wales. He is featured in German and Swedish Wikipedia and has been interviewed on radio and Television in Europe and the UK.

Peterson's published writing credits include pieces he has written for The New Statesman, New York Blade, and Planet Out.

In 2007, along with fellow ex-gay survivor, Christine Bakke, (with technical assistance from Steve Boese) he launched Beyond Ex-Gay (bXg), an on-line resource for ex-gay survivors. Together with SoulForce and The University of California at Irvine, bXg hosted the Ex-Gay Survivor Conference--Undoing the Damage, Affirming Our Lives Together.

Also in 2007 Peterson premiered two new theater pieces, The Re-Education of George W. Bush--No President Left Behind and Transfigurations--Transgressing Gender in the Bible. He has begun work on his next piece which will explore race relations in the US, the Arab-Israeli Conflict and Father/Son issues through the story in the Hebrew scriptures of Abraham and his servent Elieazar.

Peterson currently lives in Hartford, CT and is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) in West Hartford, CT. His ministry among fellow Quakers has been endorsed through the form of a Travel Minute

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