Commemorating the Stonewall Uprising: The Trans-dramaturgy of Ike Holter’s Hit the Wall in Iowa City, 2019-2020

The Stonewall Uprising which began on June 28, 1969 in New York City is seen by many as the watershed moment that launched the national and global LGBTQ+ movement as we know it today. Fifty years later, the University of Iowa Department of Theatre Arts sought to commemorate Stonewall by producing Hit the Wall by Ike Holter; a play which centers the perspectives of those responsible for inciting the Uprising, namely transgender folx and people of color. Commemorating the Stonewall Uprising: The Trans-dramaturgy of Ike Holter’s Hit the Wall in Iowa City, 2019-2020 documents how a theatrical event can be used to commemorate a historical event that looms as large as the Stonewall Uprising, and how a theatrical event can radiate outward into the community for which it is produced. It also documents the artistic process of a production dramaturg, a still oft-misunderstood position within a theatrical production frequently seen merely as the historical researcher for a play. This thesis intends to show how a dramaturg can and should be allowed to support any theatrical production through a steadfast blend of research, communication, relationship-building, and the willingness to transgress conventional roles and identities as well as theatrical time and space–hence trans-dramaturgy.