“Am I A...”

Abstract

Research in autobiography and biography has increasingly become an important means of expression and scholarship in the field of performance studies. Whereas biographical performance has its roots in the Chautauqua ¹ tradition dating as far back as early 20th-century America, performance scholars engaged in autobiographical staged performances frequently create a context for the audience whereby meanings, interpretations, and insight are evoked. This article and accompanying script, “Am I A...,” explores the author’s experiences of constructing/deconstructing her identity through a performance. Through oral invocation, body movement, personal narrative, and multiple texts, the author writes/performs a story that explores and evokes preconceived notions of identities on gender, race, sex, and sexuality. Using multiple methodologies, the author writes about our racist, sexist, and homophobic society and her acceptance and resistance of constantly being categorized.