Venue: Qtopia (Darlinghurst NSW), Feb 5 – 15, 2025
Playwrights: Dax Carnay-Hanrahan, Aleks Vujicic
Director: Dax Carnay-Hanrahan, James Lau
Cast: Dax Carnay-Hanrahan, Chris Colley, Jason Jefferies
Images by Jordan Hanrahan-Carnay, Matt Bostock
Theatre review
Dick is a woman with a broken heart, but when she encounters two different men, at different times on the same day, it may seem that things could change. There is an undeniable chemistry to how she connects with each of them, but the psychological damage she has sustained as a trans woman in a transphobic world, is making it challenging for Dick to trust. Also, the fact that the two men are father and son, are only making things trickier.
Chasing Dick – a Love Story by Dax Carnay-Hanrahan and Aleks Vujicic, is often beautifully considered, containing excellent insight from a queer woman’s perspective that is severely underrepresented. Directed by Carnay-Hanrahan and James Lau, the show’s broad humour will not be to everyone’s taste, but what it does say about the trans experience, is certainly valuable.
Design aspects of the staging are accomplished with minimal fuss, offering simple solutions to help us contextualise the performance. Carnay-Hanrahan brings intensity as leading lady of the piece, along with a wonderful commitment that makes the story’s important message truly resonate. Chris Colley and Jason Jefferies offer reliable support as love interests, both actors demonstrating sincerity in their roles.
Trans people like Dick are deserving of love, but what we receive is always compromised and tainted. Luckily love comes in all forms, and even though the vast majority of us are unable to find the romantic kind that our cisgender counterparts enjoy, friendships are much less likely to evade us. Chosen families, along with biological ones, are at least as important to our wellbeing, and to our abilities in living full lives. It is true that we can do without romantic love, especially when we lean into the wisdom that we have inevitably cultivated as a community that has survived interminable cruelty. We must always remember that more than everyone else, we know how to feel enough, that our capacity for self-sufficiency is both rewarding and extraordinary.
Suzy Goes See 