This page (hosted on David’s Weiss’ personal website) has further information on Peterson Toscano’s performances in Saint Paul this August.
Wingspan Ministry of St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church is pleased to bring Peterson Toscano to Saint Paul for two benefit performances. Peterson, a highly regarded theatrical performance activist, blends theater, comedy, storytelling, and biblical scholarship in his work. He has performed across North America and in Europe and Africa. His performances in Saint Paul will benefit Wingspan’s Uganda Project, raising awareness of LGBTQ persecution in Uganda and supporting Bishop Christopher Senyonjo and St. Paul’s Reconciliation & Equality Centre in Kampala in their efforts to secure safety and dignity for LGBTQ persons. Both events offer hearty laughter and poignant insight. Peterson’s performances transform hearts and minds. These benefits will help transform the world as well.
You can download an 8.5 x 11 poster or a 5.5 x 8.5 half-sheet (double-sided) flyer suitable as a bulletin insert (both pdf files).
Peterson Toscano Performing in Saint Paul, Minnesota
“Jesus Had Two Daddies”– Peterson Toscano uses brilliant comedy and hard-won insight to interweave his long journey out of the closet (and through years of ex-gay “therapy”) with forays into Bible stories and their oppressive and liberating effects.
Performance at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 7 p.m., Thursday, August 9
700 Snelling Avenue South, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55116
“Transfigurations: Transgressing Gender in the Bible” – Peterson Toscano offers a provocative, hilarious and revelatory look at often overlooked biblical characters whose gender-transgressive behaviors prove central to their stories in unsuspected ways. Peterson’s characterizations embody biblical scholarship as well as insight from contemporary transgender and genderqueer persons.
Performance at Hamline University, 7 p.m., Friday, August 10
Sundin Music Hall, 1531 Hewitt Avenue, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55104
Tickets: $15 – general admission | $10 – students & limited income
$10 – group sales of 10 tickets or more
Please help us build enthusiasm by rsvp’ing to these events on Facebook. You can also use Facebook to extend invitations to your friends. You’ll find each event on Facebook here: “Jesus Had Two Daddies” & “Transfigurations: Transgressing Gender in the Bible”
Sponsored by Wingspan Ministry of St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church
as a benefit for Wingspan’s Uganda Project – building a partnership with Bishop Christopher Senyonjo& St. Paul’s Reconciliation & Equality Centre in Kampala, Uganda
with gracious assistance from these co-sponsors: aMaze, Lutherans Concerned/Twin Cities, Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Bethel Lutheran Church, Edina Community Lutheran Church, Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church, Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, Hamline United Methodist Church, Plymouth Congregational Church, Dignity/Twin Cities, Call to Action/Minnesota, and Hamline University’s Hedgeman Center, Wesley Center & Religion Department
Peterson Toscano (www.petersontoscano.com) is a theatrical performance activist using comedy and storytelling to address social justice concerns. He spent 17 years and over $30,000 on three continents attempting to change and suppress his same-sex orientation and gender differences. Since 2003 he has traveled in North America, Europe, and Africa performing in diverse venues and speaking in the media. He writes and perform plays that explore LGBTQ issues, sexism, racism, violence and gender. Peterson has performed widely including: University of British Columbia, Brown University, Bucknell University, Creating Change Conference 2012, Earlham College, Eastern Mennonite University, the European Forum of LGBT Christians, Ikon (Belfast, Northern Ireland), Lambeth Conference 2008, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Pacific School of Religion, University of Puget Sound, Rice University, Susquehanna University, Trans Faith in Color Conference 2011, Vanderbilt Divinity School, and Wesley Theological Seminary Yale University. This fall (2012) he will perform at the Society for Biblical Literature.
Testimonials
Peterson Toscano’s work combines astute readings of the Bible with great story-telling and comedy. He offers interpretations of the texts and insights that even experienced biblical scholars haven’t seen before. When portrayed by Toscano, Bible stories and characters come to life with wit, sympathy, and humor. -Dale Martin, Ph.D, Woolsey Professor of Religious Studies, Yale University. Author of Sex and the Single Savior and Pedagogy of the Bible.
Bible-lovers, gender-transgressors of all sorts, people who love justice! Make haste to see Peterson Toscano’s play Transfigurations as soon as possible! His biblical exegesis is insightful and accurate, and you will glean a whole new perspective painlessly because of his charming performance. –Dr. Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, author of Omnigender, co-author of Transgender Journeys.
As a Jewish Studies scholar, educator, and activist for TBLG inclusion in Jewish communities, it was a thrill to see confident transgender characters from the Hebrew scriptures given flesh via the performance activism of Peterson Toscano –and, more importantly, to recognize through his performance that those characters fulfilled social roles in Jewish communities as gender variant folk. Bring “Transfigurations” to your shul and create an opportunity to dialogue about present-day transgender people in Jewish communities. -Noach Dzmura, editor, Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in Jewish Community, and Director, Jewish Transitions.
Toscano brings a deep reverence for the Biblical text with him into his exploration of gender transgression. This mesmerizing play compels the viewer to see well known Bible stories in a brave new light. -Nadia Bolz-Weber, Pastor, House for All Sinners & Saints (ELCA).
CONTACT: David Weiss | 651-645-2079
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