Critical Response Essay About Tristan Whiston

The theater is not only a place in which a play is performed, but it is also a place where an actor could develop an identity. In this essay, I will be arguing that theater grants actors such as Tristan Whitson new opportunities to create and discover their real identities because it is the only place actors could express themselves freely and without judgment. 

From the interview, we learned Tristan Whiston was a young lesbian with a soprano voice who was rejected by the musical theater community because he did not look like a “classical woman singer” (King, [Tristan Whiston and The Boychoir of Lesbos] 2021). Hence, Whiston started a small group called the Boychoir of Lesbos where Queer women with short hair sing as “young boys with angel voices” (King, [Tristan Whiston and The Boychoir of Lesbos] 2021). Whiston started this project after realizing he could create his world through theater (King, [Tristan Whiston and The Boychoir of Lesbos] 2021). Based on this, we can tell that theater pushed Whiston to think and explore creative ideas uncontrolled by any rule or tradition. Consequently, this encouragement made him build his world that helped in growing and thriving his masculine identity. Theater also helped Whiston build character and improve his adaptation to a new world; he was primarily interested in creating, which later helped ease the recognition and discovery of his own identity. Over time, we could see that his performance on stage created a safe place for him to explore the masculine identity that made more sense to him in which gender identity to exhibit. Adding to that, his artistic and personal experience in theater performance was significant for developing his decision to go through a medical transition. This is because the version of the Boychoir of Lesbos was always a reminder for him and the rest of the group members that identity and gender were only a “cultural process”(King, [Tristan Whiston & Gender] 2021).

Moreover, Dr. King mentioned that the performance of the Boychoir of Lesbos was an excellent example of how identity and theater interfere with each other because of the different way the Queer-identified participants used to dress and look-alike on stage versus in real life (King, [Tristan Whiston & Gender] 2021). Thus, this explains that theater allows actors to act freely without limitation or restriction. It also shows how theater enables performers to represent themselves and other personas with limitless “layers of expectations” from themselves. That being so, for Whiston, performing confidently in the Boychoir of Lesbos was a chance to thrive on his identity and explore his authentic self. Therefore, it can be concluded theater was a way for him to develop his identity through the skills he learned, such as thinking beyond the limit and creating a new world to act and perform as he wished with no judgment. We can also say that theater encouraged him to take extra steps to change his physical appearance. Aside from that, the participants of Boychoir of Lesbos were merely recognized as Queer women. Meaning the theater also encouraged him to be around other people where he might have distinguished personal aspects of his character, such as his likes and dislikes. In other words, theater taught him more about himself, his passion, and what he was confident in, resulting in developing his identity later. 

In conclusion, the theater gives artists like Tristan Whiston the chance to develop a new identity by thinking habitually of doing anything outside the box, creating a world that they freely fit in, and meeting new people on stage that helps them know better about their characteristics. Whiston's journey represented how a person could develop an identity through theater which served as a safe and inclusive environment that pushed him to the edge of his comfort limits to create his world and discover his authentic self after many years of being known as a lesbian.