Tex: A Solo Performance Exploration of Queerness and Masculinity

Abstract

Tex: The Straightest Man in the West is a solo performance exploring internalized homophobia and masculinity through clowning and bouffon. Set in a saloon in the American West, the audience plays the part of saloon patrons while an increasingly agitated Cowboy tries to prove his masculine bonafides. In the end, he surrenders to his queer instincts and allows the audience to see him as he is. Inspired by American depictions of queerness, cowboys and the West, and pop music, the piece asks the audience to investigate how they perceive straight or masculine behavior.