When I was 17, I fell in love with a girl for the first time.
Her name was Liz and our torrid affair ended as quickly as it had
begun but I was changed forever. I had always thought I was
'straight' just like everyone else 'Until She Showed Me
Otherwise'. I never would have thought that five years later I
would be telling my coming out story on stage to an intimate group
of 40 people for my graduate production at university.
Of course I didn't just tell my own story; I interviewed over 30
women from the UK and USA and shared some of their stories too. I
originally set out just to tell people's stories, รก la
The Vagina Monologues, but in doing so, I succeeded in opening the
audience's eyes to the reality of the delicate and, sometimes,
destructive process of coming out. I interviewed women of a
variety of ages and backgrounds in order to collect a diverse range
of stories and I found different ways to share them with the
audience.
That was two years ago and I am now looking to revisit and
expand the show ready for the SOLO Festival in London on the 28
July.
I am looking for more women, lesbian and bisexual, to interview
about their experiences of coming out. I will turn the stories into
monologues and potentially use them in the show in some format. All
stories are anonymous and approved by each woman before they are
used on stage or put up on the website at www.comingoutonstage.webs.com.
I created this website to document the process of devising the show
and also as a place to share the stories that didn't make it on
stage due to time constraints. Feel free to visit the website
and read some of the stories that I have already collected,
including my own.
For further information on sharing your story or to set up an
interview via Skype, email or in person, please email me on lisamichellellis@hotmail.com.
I look forward to hearing your stories.
Ellis Young
