Exchanging Love Letters with Maybe Burke: Evan F. Caccioppoli interviews them on Theatre, Activism, and Taking Ownership of Our Own Stories.

Maybe Burke in Love Letters to Nobody, Or Insignificant Others

Maybe Burke is truly a one-person theatre company in themselves. As an actor, playwright, director, chorographer, stage manager, activist, etc. they can do it all (I’ve seen them hold multiple of those roles at once) and still manage to always give warmth, love, and a smile to those around them. Now with the premiere of their solo show Love Letters to Nobody, or Insignificant Others which is Part of The Trans Theatre Festival at The Brick, we are getting to see so much more of the wonder of Maybe Burke.

Evan F. Caccioppoli: Tell about yourself, where were you born and raised?

Maybe Burke: I'm New York born and raised; I grew up in white suburbia out on Long Island, and moved to the city during college. 

EC: How did you discover the theatre? What are your earliest memories?

MB: My brother actually started performing in musicals when he was in Junior High School. I laugh because the thing that first got me excited about theatre was a Jr. High production of "How The Toys Saved Christmas." When I was in the fourth grade, I started performing in community theatre, mainly musicals. It was a world I understood, a place I felt welcome. 

EC: Why theatre? How did you know this was the right path for you?

MB: I actually did not initially plan to pursue theatre. I went to school for Psychology initially, out on Long Island. At this point I was choreographing and assistant directing the shows at the High School I had gone to, when I started to realize I was well-equipped to tell stories. I spent years focusing on these shows instead of my schoolwork, until I realized I should be going to school to make theatre. I had been trying to avoid it, but it was a step I needed to take. Whenever people ask me why I chose theatre or why I want to make theatre, I tell them I didn't chose it. It chose me. I don't want to make theatre, I need to make theatre. 

EC: I totally agree that the theatre calls you in, who have been some of your biggest influences in the theatre and on your work?

MB: I have so many brilliant influences in my life and in my work, which makes me heart so happy. My early work with Honest Accomplice Theatre really shaped me into the artist I am today. Maggie Keenan-Bolger and Rachel Sullivan put me back on the stage after taking a four-year hiatus. They helped me find my voice as a writer and an advocate, and taught me so many beautiful ways to create and connect. I am forever in their debt and so lucky to have them involved in this production.

There are also so many wonderful trans and non conforming folks out there taking the initiative to create and express themselves in amazing new ways that leave me stunned. The work of people like darkmatter and Taylor Mac, collaborations with people like Austin Klich and my director Ariel Mahler. MJ Kaufman, Bianca Leigh, Will Davis, Azure D Osborne- Lee, Becca Blackwell, Sylvan Oswald, these people blow my mind with their talent and their work always leaves me with an eagerness to push myself further. 

EC: Tell me about Love Letters to Nobody, or Insignificant Others, what is the show about? Where did the idea for it come from? Why did you want to do a solo show?

Maybe Burke in Love Letters to Nobody, Or Insignificant Others

MB: Love Letters to Nobody, or Insignificant Others is essentially the story of my journey with love, told through a series of letters to and from people who have hurt me in some way. I spent a while trying to find the next thing I wanted to do, the next topic I wanted to tackle. So I looked through my collection of ramblings, and noticed a large amount of material about love or the lack thereof. So I looked for more. I found Emails I had sent to people, filed through old texts and messages back and forth, and devised monologues from them. I would say about 85% of he material is pulled word for word from actual exchanges, some is based on real conversations I don't have documented. There's a few pieces I wish I had the chance to say. Since the material was so deeply personal, I wanted to explore what happens when I say these things on a stage. Plus, me doing a solo show was the only way to ensure an all trans cast, which is always fun!

EC: I love how you said you were searching for what the next thing you wanted to do is. I love that this piece was what you discovered. Is that how it usually works for you in creating something new? Do you see what inspiration comes to you or do you go in with something you want to explore?

MB: I honestly can't plan too far ahead. If I go in knowing what I want to say, I'm shooting myself in the foot. I refer to Do You Want Me To Stop? as something that fell out of me more than something I wrote. When I need to tell a story, that's when I write it. I know it once I
it hits the page.

EC: What has been the development process for Love Letters to Nobody… like? How did you work to put those ramblings, texts, etc. together to create this series of monologues?

MB: Honestly, copy & paste was my friend for a lot of this. I pieced together my side of conversations to make them monologues. The stories really wrote themselves. The question was sequence. Do I go in chronological order? In order of importance? Do I have too much trauma being talked about at once? Can I tell a funny story after the sexual assault?

I did a reading that was in a randomly shuffled order, but it didn't feel right. I found that the best thing to do was go through in order of learning. I bring the audience through an arch of understanding. I understood bits and pieces out of order throughout years, but I found it best to tell the stories in an order that grew and matured. 

EC: In a solo show it's just you and the audience, was that something that excited you, scared you, a mix of both? 

MB: I was so nervous to get this in front of an audience. I have never done a solo show before, so I got comfortable just talking to Ariel and being one-on-one. But I was so thrilled with the audience I had on my opening night. They were really engaged, and helped me fall in love with the play in a way I hadn't yet. 

EC: Tell me about the Trans Theatre Festival at The Brick, what was your role in its creation? Why did you start the festival and what do you hope to achieve with it? Can you tell me about the different shows and artists that are part of it? 

MB: I have had the pleasure of curating this festival alongside MJ Kaufman. We have been so lucky to have such an amazing turnout, these folks have such beautiful stories to tell. When I was asked to help start this festival, I had one simple goal: to give trans people a space to tell their stories. We're taking back our narratives and telling honest and authentic stories. I was not interested in a festival where cis people would be writing "trans roles" and telling their version of our experiences. I did not want people to walk in the theatre and feel pressured to talk about their genitals or their experience with gender. I just wanted to see work created by trans people, and that's what we have. From the comedy of "Singin and Talkin With Christopher Walken" or "Pass/Fail" to the slam poetry of "Queer Heartache" or "Notes From The Past" 

EC: This is the first year of the Trans Theatre Festival, in the coming years what do you hope to see it growing to be?

MB: This festival is already such a beautiful thing. Trans folks being given space to create and perform with and for each other. I only hope for more. More stories, more opportunities. More audience. More connection. More festivals. 

EC: If the audience can leave the Trans Theatre Festival with one thing what do you hope it will be?

MB: Every show has it's own takeaway, but if you are lucky enough to catch multiple I hope you can leave that theatre learning something new and expanding your definition if what "trans theatre" is.  

EC: As both an artist and advocate how do you feel theatre plays a part in spearing a message to people? What would you like to see theatre do in that fight that it hasn't? Do you believe through art we can change the world?

MB: My advocacy is very focused on the individual, the personal. I'm just here to tell stories and help people see themselves represented, or see a new perspective they never had. Theatre is the perfect platform for me to do exactly that. Through my work and in my plays, I invite people into experiences that aren't often addressed on stage. Sometimes it's something they've never experienced or had to think about. Sometimes it's something very similar to their lived experience, but they never saw it expressed this way, there's a whole world of possible reactions. I think what I really want to see in theatre is the ability to get stories like this, organizations who tie their shows messages with greater causes, into the mainstream eye. More people need to see these types of stories and hear these stories so people don't have to feel alone.

I definitely think we can change the world through art, because I've watched it happen. To quote Mark Schoenfeld and Barri McPherson's musical Brooklyn, "You can change the world by changing someone, and maybe that's what we're put on Earth for. I know that's what I'm on Earth for." Every time someone tells me that my stories opened their mind or validated their experience, I am reminded that what I am doing is contributing to that change.

EC: I believe that one of the most important aspects of Art is Love, what do you feel is the greatest love we can give/put out into the world as artists is?

MB: As the title suggests, I talk a lot about love. Platonic love, romantic love, making love... Something that pours through this piece for me is self love. Most of these Love Letters have reminders for myself, love for myself. I think the best thing I can show people is the greatest love I've known. "Me, Myself, and Maybe."

EC: In the spirit of what’s next, what is next for Maybe Burke?

MB: This summer I will be working on The Trans Literacy Video Project with Honest Accomplice Theatre. We surveyed over a thousand people to find what topics would be most important and exciting to talk about in a video series about trans experience that goes a step further than "Trans 101." We are also in development for a new show, ReconFIGUREd, that will be premiering next winter. 

Love Letters to Nobody, Or Insignificant Others
Written and Performed by Maybe Burke
With additional material by Exes of Maybe Burke
Directed by Ariel Mahler

Presented as part of The Trans Theatre Festival at The Brick

Lighting Design Zephan Ellenbogen
Sound Design Teresa Lotz
Costume Design Daniel Tyler Mathews
Stage Management Emma Ruopp.

Wednesday, June 22 at 8:15pm

The Trans Theatre Festival runs through June 26 at The Brick

The Brick

579 Metropolitan Avenue
(between Union Avenue and Lorimer Street)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn 11211

http://www.bricktheater.com/