“Nothing in life can hurt you if you can only learn not to react.” So says Dr Michael Dillon at the opening of this heartwarming, episodic journey through the life of the first recipient of female to male reassignment surgery.
It’s a true-life story and a fascinating one – made all the more so by the fact that Dillon is played by trans actor, Brighton-based Cloud Quinn. As if that groundbreaking transitioning wasn’t enough of a life event, Cloud as Dillon – laid-back, genial, and dry witted – takes us through the fantastical exploits of Dillon’s short life.
Even as a young girl he dressed as a boy and in the play we only see him in a double-breasted suit, hair slicked back, thin moustache and goatee beard.
His aunt, who brought him up, despairs of his show of masculinity but once freed from her clutches Dillon gets himself to Oxford, studying first theology and then The Greats.
Known to be female, he enlists in the ladies’ rowing team and becomes its president. The plot is dense and episodic – as well as the 13 pioneering surgical operations in the hands of the brilliant Sir Harold Gillies, he gains a medical degree, performs male to female reassignment surgery on his friend Roberta, and after previously rowing for the ladies’ team at Oxford, finds himself in the men’s rowing team at Trinity College Dublin.
But his career like his life seems to be destined to be all at sea – quite literally when he joins the merchant Navy as a ship’s doctor. Eventually his past catches up with him and the Sunday Express and Baltimore Sun expose his sex change history, forcing him to give up his life on the ocean wave and instead train at a Buddhist monastery in India.
The show captures all this and much more in its scant 70 minutes, and playing ‘Opposite Quinn’ is the brilliant Kay Eluvian. Through lightning changes offstage, she plays a bewildering range of characters, including his aunt, his rowing captain, his surgeon Sir Harold, his young female self, a fake Guru, and an intrusive and offensive photojournalist.
To every one of them Kay brings a new character and new voice. She’s just fabulous to watch.
Cloud as Dillon is urbane, sure of his destiny, and not phased by his trailblazing transitioning. He is totally believable and in his quiet determination very moving. He regards his journey as one of self-improvement.
Trans plays are a rarity, but this one is a gem. Look out for any future performances.
The Strange Case of Dr Dillon was at the Actors Theatre, Brighton
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