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This show offers an unsentimental yet generous, uncensored look at reality, and the fact is–despite opinions to the contrary–there is no alternative: all of us are in transition becoming ourselves.

Transgender characters are on more big and small screens these days, with popular shows like “Transparent” and “Orange Is The New Black.” Now a new work of theater featuring seven trans women characters is having its U.S. premiere at the American Repertory Theater. 

Fine theater at its best often introduces us to worlds about which we are fairly ignorant, and for this, we should always be grateful. 

“It is not in any way didactic, it is not like a lecture on trans 101,” says writer Paul Lucas. “You just learn a lot about the trans experience and a lot of your preconceptions about what it means to be trans are just popped, one after the next.”

“Trans Scripts” intends to highlight the similarities shared between all people, regardless of their differences.

The stories in “Trans Scripts” deal at times with bullying, family acceptance (or lack thereof) of gender, problems in the workplace, and the difficulty of getting appropriate medical care related to transition. But the examples of tribulation are balanced with examples of victory.

Bianca Leigh’s character in Trans Scripts puts it, “We have hundreds and thousands and tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of stories.” And those stories, in all of their complexity and authenticity, deserve to be onstage.

In a Fringe where gender has been one theatre’s vital talking points, this is a show that matters, not just to those already aware of the trans communities, but for those who have no knowledge of them.

Simply by staging a show that seeks to provide the most sincere, accurate portrayal of lives rarely documented in art, Trans Scripts throws up interesting questions about how best to respect these stories before they even grace the stage.

“I am hoping to show a nice breadth of the trans community. And asked myself, what things are essential that I definitely need to have in the script?”

Culled from interviews with trans women, these personal accounts read out on stage highlight the diversity of their experiences.