Was Kurt Cobain trans? Emma Frankland explores what it would have been like to have a trans role model growing up.
Recreating a perfect replica set of Nirvana’s 1993 MTV Unplugged performance, Frankland is Cobain. She begins with a cover of the namesake ‘All Apologies’ and introduces herself.
This show is filled with 90s nostalgia as Frankland speaks of discovering Nirvana on a school trip bus journey. The show is beautiful and dramatic.
Frankland is courageously funny throughout the show. She discusses the online discourse around why many believe Cobain was transgender and refers to the singer using she/her pronouns throughout. No Apologies is tender and comes from the heart. Frankland reimagines the 1993 concert if she were right and suspensefully recreates the chaos that would unfold.
The later section of the show is a spoken word section about Icarus. It is a powerful and poetic piece. Frankland goes from emotional to angry as she talks about being free, while dressed in a gorgeous ball gown.
The show is a fully captioned performance, with detailed visual descriptions in key moments.
Perhaps the most powerful part of the show is when the performer asks her doctor if there are any side effects with starting hormones. The reply is yes, a longer life expectancy.
The show ends with a final speech from Frankland, as she discusses the current situation for trans people in the UK and their life expectancy. The doctor who once gave her hormones is now suspended.
Final moments of the show include Frankland encouraging trans people to claim the sun as transgender, and I am fully engrossed as she delivers her final performance dressed as in a bright yellow costume.
No Apologies, 20:45, Anatomy Lecture Theatre at Summerhall, 31st – 24th (not 5th, 11th, 18th)
