NEW YORK — With the recent passage of North Carolina’s HB2 Law aka “The Bathroom Law,” and its message of exclusion, high profile corporations and celebrities have spoken out, canceled events or threatened sanctions if the law is not repealed. Transgender actress and activist Shakina Nayfack (who can be seen in the upcoming second season of Difficult People on Hulu this July) has launched a crowd funding campaign on YouCaring.com to raise money to bring her #MANIFESTPUSSY Tour to North Carolina this June. This campaign follows Nayfack’s successful KickStartHer campaign, the world’s first internationally crowd-sourced gender confirmation.
The #MANIFESTPUSSY Tour combines two solo shows written and performed by Ms. Nayfack, ONE WOMAN SHOW, which tells the story of her life leading up to her ultimate transition and POST-OP, which follows the six weeks she spent in Thailand before, during, and after the surgery. Both shows were originally produced by Musical Theatre Factory and premiered at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater in New York.
The goal of this crowd funding campaign is to raise money to bring #MANIFESTPUSSY Tour on the road with stops in Durham, Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Asheville, Flat Rock, Charlotte, Fayetteville, and Raleigh. Nayfack and her team will work closely with local organizers to help solidify venues to present a new show that combines material from ONE WOMAN SHOW and POST-OP. Ms. Nayfack considers this tour “Missionary Work”, stating: “In New York City, my transition has been very public and widely accepted. My shows have opened up a fantastic dialogue about what it means to transcend the gender binary, politically, socially, sexually, and spiritually. The passage of HB2 is not only hurtful, but has a much wider implications than most people realize. I very much appreciate the vocal and quick actions taken by such people as Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, and Stephen Schwartz and companies such as PayPal, Google and the NBA. In their strength to stand up and speak out, I find my strength to bring my story to the very place that my community is being excluded. I hope people will support this tour and help bring pride and empowerment to LGBT people and their allies in North Carolina.”
Originally from Southern California, Shakina has enjoyed an eclectic career as a performer, director, writer, producer, and social activist. In 2015 she became the first transgender woman to receive a Lilly Award recognizing the remarkable contributions to the American Theatre made by women. Her autobiographical rock musicals One Woman Show (2013) and Post-Op (2015) both premiered to sold-out houses at Joe’s Pub, and will be returning to the Public Theater for encore engagements in June, 2016. The shows bookended her groundbreaking KickStartHer campaign to crowd-fund gender confirmation surgery. Shakina was also recently seen in Manuel Versus the Statue of Liberty at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, where she was presented with an Outstanding Individual Performance Award for her portrayal of Lady Liberty. This summer she will be joining the cast of the Hulu original comedy series “Difficult People.” www.shakina.nyc
I wonder if the N.C. Republican legislators will put guards at the restrooms and tell her she has to go to an out of state restroom! :>)