A few St. Thomas' parishioners got together August 26th at the HRC Center to watch a brilliant performance by Peterson Toscano in a one-person play about certain characters in the Bible that have very non-traditional gender roles. Now I was pretty skeptical right off the bat because I'm thinking, "I don't recall any transsexuals in my King James Bible, and I'm pretty sure that would've caught my attention!" The play really had less to do with the physical aspects of being transsexual, but rather the unconventional roles of some of these biblical characters.

Peterson uses the Gospel of St. Thomas to tie several tales together, which I found very interesting in that I've never really heard much about it. Apparently there are many unexpected gender references in that gospel and, throughout the play, I was thinking that the male narrator, who had a rather effeminate demeanor, had been St. Thomas' partner or they had had a relationship of that nature. I don't want to ruin the ending, in case you all might have a chance to catch Toscano's performance in the future, but the ending was very cleverly done.

The stories he very entertainingly tells include those about Deborah, a matriarchal leader who fought side by side with the male soldiers; Joseph, who's brothers sold him into slavery because he dared to be different but then ended up saving his entire family because of it, and the funniest tale (I mean it was hysterical) about how Queen Esther met Xerxes as told by one of the palace eunuchs, demonstrating how much power the eunuchs actually had.

The performance was free to the public and HRC provided a marvelous spread of hors d'ouevres and soft drinks. I really had a wonderful time and if you ever get a chance to see Toscano perform it's a great evening.

For more information on this and Peterson's other work go to: www.petersontoscano.com.

**Editor's Note: Would you like to review a book, play, movie, or music you've found particularly inspirational and helpful? Or discuss a topic that tickles your fancy? If so, please forward your review to phoenix@stthomasdc.org.