Leap of faith led Giselle Byrd to Theater Offensive as exec director, first Black trans woman to head regional theatre in US
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When Giselle Byrd received the news that she was chosen to be the next executive director of The Theater Offensive, she was so shocked that she kept telling the search firm that they were lying.
Despite living her best life as a Black trans woman, she knew firsthand that employment can be a battle. According to the Human Rights Campaign, LGBTQ+ community members are more likely to be unemployed or underemployed in comparison to their straight and cisgender peers, and those economic disparities were greatly felt during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Byrd is thrilled to step up and step into the big job, against all odds. “It is so powerful to see queer and trans artists of color being given the platform and the opportunity to share their work in a time when these narratives are actively being erased,” she said. “There is power in that resistance, this is an artistic form of resistance.”
The Theatre Offensive was first formed in 1989 by Abe Rybeck and a group of artists-activists to expand on the success of the gay men’s guerrilla theatre troupe, United Fruit Company.
The company was also created as an active response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the time — a response to the government’s lack of response to the crisis, making it one of the first HIV/AIDS arts-activist organizations in the country.
From 1989 to 2009, the organization created unique art and theatre festivals, brought popular theatre artists to the city, and provided a public platform for queer thespians across New England. It was also one of the original groups to celebrate queer theatre on a national level.
Byrd shared that the organization didn’t just produce and expect audiences to contact them with feedback. Instead, they made a point to listen and learn from their community.
“They were telling these narratives from the queer and trans perspective that a lot of people were not familiar with, and over time, they started really just leaning in and listening to what community needs are,” she said. “What stories do you want to see? What narratives have you not heard?”
Byrd said that in 2019, The Theatre Offensive changed its mission to “present liberating art by, for, and about queer and trans people of color that transcends artistic boundaries, celebrates cultural abundance, and dismantles oppression.”
“We have the longest running LGBTQIA+ youth theater program in the country, known as True Colors, which was awarded the National Medal of the Arts from the Obama administration. First Lady Michelle Obama was very instrumental in making that happen, and so since then, we’ve embarked on a capital campaign to build a permanent site, not just performance, but a cultural center that is dedicated to our community and those who are looking for belonging,” she said.
Before receiving this prestigious position, Byrd said that she decided to quit working in talent management after nine years, realizing that she could make more impactful changes in the system by becoming a leader.
“I’ve been given nine years of a beautiful education around what this industry does and how it works and the methods of oppression at times that it utilizes, especially towards bodies of color. I said, ‘Okay, maybe I can change the system by being a leader,’ but I then had that moment of ‘Will they accept a leader of my experience?’ I quit my job with $200 to my name, which was not my mama’s greatest moment for me, and it was the moment I stepped out on faith in myself,” she said.
When Byrd took this leap of faith, she said that the floodgates of opportunity opened for her. She saw the advertisement for an executive director for The Theatre Offensive while on what she calls “a quit your job” trip to Provincetown.
“I said, this is so on the nose of what I asked for, which was to pour into my community what was poured into me, to return to theater and provide portals of opportunity for my siblings, but also to find my own personal liberation and have autonomy over myself,” she said.
When Byrd accepted the position as executive director, she also became the first Black trans woman to lead a regional theatre in the United States.
She credits having the support of her mother and chosen family as instrumental in helping her to believe that she could take on this leadership role in a new city.
“Everyone helped me move out of my New York apartment and sent me off to Boston. It was just a powerful testament of how, when you find beautiful people in your life, hold them close, don’t let them go, and cherish them, because these times … are times in which we need each other the most,” she said.
Byrd also is grateful for the grace and support of the entire staff and board of The Theatre Offensive.
“[They are] allowing me the opportunity to help transform the organization in a way that continues increasing its visibility, provides more offerings for folks to be in fellowship with us, and to really remind ourselves of what happens when we take collective action and fight any system that says we don’t belong,” she said.
The Theatre Offensive will be holding their first Queer Republic Festival, which is a critical part of their next lifecycle for propelling their mission.
The four-day festival is the finale of the organization’s first 22-month long Emergent Artist Residency and True Colors Residency programs. It will feature workshops, staged readings and dance performances.
Byrd said that the festival is a combination of three of their artists’ projects that have been in residency and their partnership with Double Edge Theatre.
This year’s artists and their projects are “In the Space Between” by Victoria Lynn Awkward, “The Messenger (Staged Reading)” by Cheyanne Wyzzard-Jones, and “Theatre of Union” by Annalise “River” Guidry.
“There’s something so powerful about theater … strangers come into a room, they sit, and they have this beautiful fellowship, and that is something so designed. That is what we need right now,” Byrd said.
She also gave advice to LGBTQIA+ community members of color who may want to step into leadership positions like herself but may have some hesitation or anxiety.
“Trust your gut, and the only person stopping yourself is you. Give yourself the green light to go into what you are destined to do and what you are destined to be. If it is on your heart, share it. You have to speak, even when you feel that you can’t,” she said.
“Always bet on yourself,” she continued. “I think it’s hard, because we have imposter syndrome. You are here for a reason. Go in that purpose, embrace it even when it gets scary, because on the other side of that is a liberation that so many people don’t get in their lifetimes. Don’t deny yourself of that.”
She also hopes that her stepping into this leadership role will be inspiring for LGBTQIA+ youth of color in the city.
“I hope that it reminds them that they can live to be adults. Right now, we just saw the U.S. Supreme Court rule [in] U.S. v. Skrmetti that trans youth under the age of 18 cannot have access to gender affirming care, which is extremely detrimental to their well-being, and at the same time, we’re seeing multiple suicide hotlines be cut financially. I hope that in this role, I’m reminding queer and trans youth of color that they can live, that there is joy on the other side of sorrow,” she said.
“I just hope that I remind young people that your dreams are valid. They are not just simply dreams. They can become realities.”
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