There is a very niche but very interesting discourse in certain online circles about Kurt Cobain, the legendary grunge musician and lead singer of Nirvana, whether or not Cobain was in fact a transgender woman. If you are unaware of this idea, it might at first seem peculiar, but it is a fact that many trans femmes relate to and identify with his lyrics and statements on gender and sexuality, his preference for wearing women’s clothes, and his pattern of behaviour and mental health. What might at first seem a bit of online trivia in fact yields a rich and important discussion about the importance of ‘wishful thinking’, the rules about what queer people can and can’t reclaim and who decides them, and more broadly, the current treatment of trans people in society. No Apologies is an ambitious and fascinating treatise on trans identity and the queering of 90s grunge music.
No Apologies is performed by Emma Frankland, a trans woman from Falmouth. The show is structured as a series of connected vignettes. It opens with Frankland dressed as Cobain in the famous garb of the 1993 MTV Unplugged performance. She performs ‘All Apologies’, the Nirvana song that threads the whole piece together. In some scenes, Frankland is Cobain; in others, she speaks to the audience about her experience growing up as a queer person in Cornwall and the importance that Nirvana and grunge had on her life.
The show ends with a poetic and intense retelling of the story of Icarus. Topless and covered in candle wax, Frankland swings a suspended chandelier around the stage whilst distorted rock music fills the auditorium. It’s a powerful and memorable symbol of queer rage, but perhaps suffers from the sudden tonal whiplash from the previous scenes that were, though still discussing a serious topic, filled with levity and relatability. Frankland is such a likeable, personable and cool figure, and the spoken word segments where she reflects on her life really shine.
No Apologies connects its material really well with the current urgency and danger that LGBT+ people are facing, and though a little uneven, works as a moving and vital piece of theatre.
