147Hz Can’t Pass

Greenside @ Infirmary Street (Venue 236)

JJJ

“I’m 18 years old and I am…” the recording on the screen fizzes and breaks – the voice unable to continue what it wants to say, before this one-person play, by Ink Asher Hemp, develops into an imaginative, poetic and honest monologue about living and coming out as transgender man.

While it’s not autobiographical, it feels like Asher Hemp has brought a lot of personal insights to the lyrical, poetic writing that fills this imaginative performance, which shifts between spoken word, poetry and movement.

“I am the scary transgender person the media warned you about,” our narrator says, but, with the quiet strength that comes from portraying honest vulnerability, they don’t seem it – which is clearly the point.

While anyone who doesn’t have a inherent prejudice against transgender people may, at times, feel a little like they’re being talked down to, Asher Hemp is a skilled performer who weaves together experiences, pertinent points and a vision for a future where an individual’s gender isn’t anyone else’s business. “I hope that one day I’m boring,” is the show’s wry conclusion, “But it means putting in the work today.” And while this is a small-scale piece that speaks from the heart, it’s certainly doing that.

SALLY STOTT

Until 25 August. Today 12:35pm.