Provided Content
Diversionary Theatre announces the San Diego premiere of Manifest Pussy, written by and starring Shakina Nayfack. Manifest Pussy will open for a two-night run on Thursday, September 19, at Diversionary Theatre in University Heights and will hold two showtimes per night. The closing performance will be at midnight on Friday, September 20, after the 9 p.m. performance.
Manifest Pussy is a solo show that features notable talents from the musical theatre space, including Shaina Taub (two-time Tony winner, Suffs), Michael R Jackson (Tony and Pulitzer winner, A Strange Loop), Sam Salmond (Eighty-Sixed), Joe Iconis (Be More Chill), Zoe Sarnak (Empire Records), Joel Waggoner, Nikko Benson, Julianne Wick Davis (Trevor, Southern Comfort), Lauren Marcus, and Teresa Lotz.
Manifest Pussy is a rock concert/standup extraordinary/ritual sacrifice that follows Shakina’s pilgrimage to Thailand for gender confirmation. A journey of faith and trans liberation, Manifest Pussy combines Shakina’s raw and irreverent autobiographical storytelling with brand-new songs by some of today’s hottest musical theatre writers.
Known artistically as Shakina, she made Television history on NBC’s Connecting… as the first transgender person to play a series regular on a network sitcom, and she was a writer and director on NBC’s Quantum Leap. Shakina can also be seen guest starring in Amazon’s GLAAD Award-Winning Transparent Musicale Finale, which she helped write and produce, and Hulu’s Difficult People as the iconic trans truther, Lola. Her play Chonburi International Hotel & Butterfly Club premiered on Audible in 2020 in collaboration with the Williamstown Theatre Festival. It was recognized with a 2021 Drama League Award for Best Audio Theatre Production. She is the Founding Artistic Director of Musical Theatre Factory, where she helped to develop hundreds of new musicals, including Michael R. Jackson’s Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning A Strange Loop and her own autobiographical glam rock odyssey, Manifest Pussy.
Recognitions include The Lilly Award for Working Miracles, Theatre Resources Unlimited Humanitarian Award, The Kilroys List, Logo 30, and two-time Drama League fellow and two-time OUT 100 honoree.
Diversionary Theatre is the nation’s third-oldest LGBTQIA+ theatre dedicated to amplifying queer voices through the performing arts in a dynamic, inclusive, and provocative environment that celebrates and preserves their unique culture while contributing to an environment of diversity and inclusion throughout the broader community. Since Diversionary’s founding in 1986, it has continually provided an inspiring and thought-provoking theatrical platform to explore complex and diverse stories of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning communities in the form of live entertainment that all can enjoy.
For tickets and more information, visit diversionary.org or call 619.220.0097
