TRANS LINEAGE

Celebration Theatre's Trans Lineage program is an annual commitment to developing new stories for the stage that illuminate transgender and gender-expansive narratives across time and cultures.

Now in its fourth year (grown from original project Tales of the Transcestors), the program brings life to new works rooted in trans lineages of past, present, and futures.

2025 Production: Rites of Passage

After a nationwide search, our Writers Room took place Summer 2025 to create three new 20–30 minute one-act play exploring the theme Rites of Passage:

Across cultures and histories, rites of passage mark life’s turning points: birth, death, coming of age, initiation, embodiment, exile, return. For trans people, these rites are often erased, denied, invented, and reimagined. This year’s theme invites us to explore the moments and thresholds that shape us and our lineages, whether personal, cultural, spiritual, or historical.

Writers developed their plays in a facilitated writers’ room, with regular feedback from peers, a dramaturg, and the show’s director. Our program culminates in a fully produced World Premiere run in Los Angeles, December 4-13, 2025 in co-presentation with Greenway Arts Alliance, directed by Nico Pang and produced by Petey Gibson.

Each Year, Selected Writers Receive:

• A $750 commission to develop a new one-act play (20-30 min)
• Weekly facilitated writers’ room sessions over 6 weeks (July–September 2025)
• Feedback and support from peers, playwright facilitator, and director
• A fully-produced World Premiere in December 2025

We welcome submissions from writers with TGNC2S lived experience from all experience levels, especially those who have been historically underrepresented and excluded in theatre.

Submissions are reviewed by the Trans Lineage team and a reading committee of experienced theatre artists of TGNC lived experience.

Our next Writers Search will reopen in Spring 2026!

About Celebration Theatre

Celebration Theatre is Southern California’s longest-running LGBTQIA+ theatre. Founded in December 1982 in a Silver Lake storefront by Mattachine Society co-founding member Chuck Rowland, the nonprofit was organized as a community theatre “of, by, and for gay and lesbian people and their friends.” Expanding over the decades, the Los Angeles-based company has mounted theatrical productions representative and in support of the queer community: with a sharp focus on inclusion, visibility, and pride. GLAAD, NAACP, Los Angeles theatre awards, and many other benchmarks for excellence have recognized the theatre and its artists—performers, writers, directors, designers, musicians, and producers. Scores of LGBTQIA+ luminaries have graced Celebration’s stages over the years as it continues to provide an inspiring and empowering forum for professional and emerging artists, giving voice to the evolving experience of queer and trans culture.