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Four stars
“A poetic, fast-paced exploration of Michael Dillon's groundbreaking life as the first known trans man to medically transition, brilliantly performed by an all-trans cast... a must-see.”
Andrei Mihail, Everything Theatre. -
Four stars
“...a truly amazing and fascinating story... a surprising amount of humour... Both Cloud Quinn as Michael and Kay Elúvian as everyone else were first-rate in their roles.”
Terry Eastham, londontheatre1. -
Four stars
“The actors work closely throughout and it is clear they have a strong working relationship which a play as emotive as this requires... a thought-provoking true story.”
Elaine Chapman, theatreandartreviews.com. -
Four stars
“Alongside Quinn’s sensitive portrayal of Dr Dillon... Eluvian is a gifted comic performer... but she also captures the pathos.”
Louise Penn, loureviews.blog. -
“Quinn portrays Dillon as a person of dauntless intellectual energy and creeping vulnerability... Kay Eluvian effortlessly switches between 12 other parts, including a pioneering surgeon, sympathetic naval officer, and Dillon's subconscious.”
Emma Goldman, The Camden New Journal.
a fascinating true story of gender transition from the mid-twentieth century
From 1915 to 1940, Michael Dillon struggled against a world that insisted he was a girl. The only way he could live a full life was to invent gender affirming care for trans men. Body aligned, he began work on his soul. Heart-break, world travel, and life as a Buddhist monk followed.
Today, trans identities are openly mocked in British parliament, and gender affirming healthcare increasingly difficult to access. Far from “new and experimental”, hormone and surgical treatments developed by and for Dillon, in partnership with an emerging plastic surgeon, are established best practices for the global medical community.
Follow Michael's journey from his childhood in Folkestone, through his medical training and transition, to the Merchant Navy and Buddhist monasteries in India. Michael's autobiography, finished shortly before his death, was discovered by biographer Liz Hodgkinson, who first shared his story in 1989. Now, Dillon's extraordinary life has come to the stage for the first time, with an all-trans cast.
Meet the cast
Cloud Quinn
Michael Dillon
Cloud Quinn
Michael Dillon
Cloud graduated from Drama Studio London in 2023, where he developed a one-man show based on Kafka's The Trial, played Leontes in The Winter's Tale at the Grange Court Theatre, and performed an extract from Ruby Thomas' Either at the Arts Theatre in Soho. His professional credits include The Guardian Weekend, Jonathan Sims' Thirteen Storeys, and Alice Oseman's I Was Born For This, for which AudioFile magazine described his performance as “endearing and heartbreaking”. Cloud is also a guitarist, singer, and composer.
Kay Elúvian
Roberta Cowell, Aunt, and others
Kay Elúvian
Roberta Cowell, Aunt, and others
Trained by Hollywood legend Pat Fraley, Kay has established herself as a highly versatile actress, specialising in voice. Her professional credits include Black Myth: Wukong, World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, John Scalzi's Slow Time Between the Stars, the movie Double XL and over 150 audio dramas with award-winning production company Graphic Audio. Kay is also a writer, software developer, voice acting coach, and Equity rep.
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