{"id":160944,"date":"2026-03-12T00:02:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T00:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/160944\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T00:02:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T00:02:48","slug":"the-power-of-protest-oregon-artswatch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/160944\/","title":{"rendered":"The power of protest \u2022 Oregon ArtsWatch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NinevehNineveh de La Luz Herrera (left) and Ethan Fieder in\u00a0Riot Queens\u00a0at Fuse Theatre Ensemble through March 29. Photo: Gregory Parkinson<\/p>\n

History was made when a trans woman threw a cup of coffee at a police officer who was harassing her.<\/p>\n

Mikki Gillette\u2019s new play, Riot Queens<\/a>, takes that real act \u2013 which sparked San Franciso\u2019s 1966 Compton\u2019s Cafeteria Riot<\/a>, the first known full-scale riot asserting transgender and gay rights in the U.S. \u2013 and explores the emotional boiling point that led to it.<\/p>\n

The show, directed by Harper York at Fuse Theatre Ensemble<\/a>, is centered on three fictional trans women who frequent Compton\u2019s, a 24-hour eatery and a social haven for the queer community. Among the customers there is Nina (Bryn Bollimpalli), a newcomer to the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, who has dreams of getting an education as well as pursuing gender-affirming care so that she can live as her true self. In contrast, Haley (Ethan Fieder) is a seasoned sex worker who believes her street smarts will keep her safe, and Dixie (Nineveh de La Luz Herrera), is a feisty activist who\u2019s so hyper-fueled by her sense of justice that her jangling arms and legs are in perpetual motion.<\/p>\n

\"BrynBryn Bollimpalli and Riplie Sugden in Riot Queens. Photo: Gregory Parkinson<\/p>\n

While these women share an identity in some respects, it\u2019s a tenuous connection, and their separate goals come into conflict as their lives become more entwined. Nina is focused on her future beyond the Tenderloin, but Haley just wants to get by, staying within the two blocks of Turk Street, where trans people are relatively tolerated. As much as she\u2019s drawn to Nina, she\u2019s annoyed by the other woman\u2019s dreams of a better life, and she\u2019s also rankled by Dixie\u2019s devotion to Vanguard<\/a>, a group that protests businesses that discriminate against gay and trans people alike. Raising your voice, Haley thinks, will only bring the community more unwanted attention from the police.<\/p>\n

That fear, it turns out, has some basis in reality. When a character shows up at the cafeteria wearing a stocking cap, we know she\u2019s been arrested for \u201cimpersonating a woman\u201d and then further degraded by the police, who\u2019ve shaved her head.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a chilling sight, and one that instantly expresses the fear these women are living with. But one of Gillette\u2019s superpowers is that she confronts cold truths while avoiding crossing into gratuitous territory. Haley, for instance, says just enough about her childhood to let us know she has suffered a series of atrocities, without going into graphic detail that would distract us from the larger story about the power of trans activism itself.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although the play imagines the fraught days that lead to an uprising that spilled into the street and overturned a police car, the drama here mostly builds through the three women\u2019s conversations. And there\u2019s plenty to talk about as they share the news of demonstrations and arrests, plus the constant harassment from an anti-trans server (Tyler Hunt) at Compton\u2019s who keeps threatening to call the cops again.<\/p>\n

\"Orchestra<\/a><\/p>\n

Black-and-white projections separate these scenes and give more context, showing protesters carrying signs and big \u201960s police cars cruising the street like sharks. Along with these images, period music adds a cheeky note, with Petula Clark singing\u00a0 \u201cDowntown,\u201d mixed in with \u201cYou Don\u2019t Own Me\u201d and \u201cThe Times They Are A-Changin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ConversationConversation at Compton\u2019s: From left, Bryn Bollimpalli, Cosmo Reynolds, Nineveh de La Luz Herrera, and Ethan Fieder in\u00a0Riot Queens. Photo: Gregory Parkinson<\/p>\n

Riot Queens may have a small cast (which also includes Riplie Sugden, as the owner of the bar where Nina works, and Cosmo Reynolds, as a cop and a protester), but Daye Thomas\u2019s effective sound design creates a busy city atmosphere. A bell rings whenever the door to Compton\u2019s opens; buses honk outside; and there\u2019s a steady buzz of conversation inside the bustling business.<\/p>\n

Like the increasingly divided characters themselves, who start to metaphorically dance towards each other only to step back again, Ezra Goetzen\u2019s scenic design separates the stage into three spaces, with a simple bar framed by the booths of Compton\u2019s on one side and Haley\u2019s rented room on the other. Instead of drawing attention to themselves, these black, white and gray spaces let the emotions of the story \u2013 especially in a wrenching scene in which Haley lies like a wounded child on her bed \u2013 come through the characters.<\/p>\n

York\u2019s costume designs also represent something about each woman\u2019s interior life. Haley, who doesn\u2019t want to make waves, dresses in a prim blouse and plaid pants, while the fiery Dixie sports a shiny scarlet blouse and black leather-like pants. What they dare \u2013 or don\u2019t dare \u2013 to wear tells us as much as the dialog does.<\/p>\n

As harrowing as the story is, Gillette\u2019s love for her characters shines through in every scene, and she even gives us reason to believe good things are ahead for them. While many Americans today are once again asking themselves whether or not protest is worth the risks it incurs, Gillette\u2019s play offers a decided \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riot Queens<\/p>\n

Company: Fuse Theatre Ensemble<\/p>\n

Where: The Back Door Theatre, 4319 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd., Portland<\/p>\n

When: Through March 29. Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n

Ticket & schedule information: here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nineveh de La Luz Herrera (left) and Ethan Fieder in\u00a0Riot Queens\u00a0at Fuse Theatre Ensemble through March 29. Photo:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[66417,66418,66419,66420,9,24,63,66421,122,124,123,66422,905,46091],"class_list":["post-160944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-back-door-theatre","tag-comptons-cafeteria-riot","tag-fuse-theatre-ensemble","tag-mikki-gillette","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-portland-theater","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-riot-queens","tag-theater","tag-trans-rights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}