Warmly lit on a cluttered stage, Tatenda Shamiso sings a duet with his former self. The recorded notes are higher, the voice pinned down in a recording studio just before the testosterone he started taking kicked in. On stage, his now brusquer voice glides underneath in a soulful, tingling harmony. In the upstairs theatre at the Royal Court, time folds over itself and a single identity splits in two.
Directed by Sean Ting-Hsuan Wang, No ID is Shamiso’s generous ode to the person he once was, having transitioned over the last few years with a new name, new body and new voice. He is grateful for all he takes from his old identity, speaking in a way that feels almost revelatory. At the same time, this one-man show is a wry airing of the logistical obstacles that continue to prevent him from becoming this next version of himself.
Armed with amiable charm and resigned exasperation, Shamiso takes us through the mundane, infuriating and dehumanising hoops he has had to wriggle his way through simply to access basic healthcare and human rights as a trans person. He details the psychological tests that left him wrung out for days and the phone calls that have treated him like a problem that can’t be solved. As the expensive, exhausting and time-robbing logistical requirements to prove himself as real and valid stack up, piles of forms and filing boxes are thrown about the stage, the chaos of the physical space echoing his diminishing mental capacity to keep up with what’s required of him.
He waves away the idea of a sob story within these struggles. Instead, he uses this chance to reflect with awe and grace on his transition, interspersing the ineptitude of red tape with songs and videos, beautiful markers pinpointing moments of change. Most striking are the videos he took each month, every one infused with excitement at a new spread of hair across his stomach, a new note he can no longer reach. His delight is radiant and infectious.
Telling his story with frank honesty and offhand humour, Shamiso intimately and scathingly reveals the lazy cruelties of the bureaucratic systems which fail to extend empathy or understanding. But even more so, as he welcomes us into this incredibly personal moment of change and potential, he shares the release and relief that come with being comfortable in your body, a feeling that deserves to be accessible to all.
At the Royal Court, London, until 6 May
