Performer, Speaker, Spoken Word

Kestryl Cael is a performer, activist, slam poet, and gender revolutionary. When forced to choose a label, he identifies as a transgender butch. Kestryl Cael has appeared on-stage at conferences, colleges, festivals, and local theatres. He considers it his artistic duty to engage his audiences in critical thought without letting them take him (or themselves) too seriously.

XY(T), Kestryl’s solo performance debut, had it’s world premiere in Portland, Oregon, and it’s NYC premiere at UNDER St. Marks, as part of the 2008 FRIGID Fringe Festival. Critics described Kestryl Cael’s work as “provocative,” “brave,” “appealingly wry,” “heartfelt,” “profound,” and “essential.” XY(T) will next appear as part of the 2008 New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC).

Kestryl wrote his first play at age seven, an epic melodrama involving masks, unicorns, tigers, and entirely gender-neutral casting. After being cast as “The Father” in his 2nd school play, he has consistently been cast in roles that conflict with the gender of his audition—most recently, he portrayed a high-femme drag queen rendition of “The Duchess” in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.” Kestryl Cael was an ensemble member in “The Language of Paradox,” a performance group directed by Kate Bornstein. Having graduated from Lewis & Clark College with a degree in Theatre and Anthropology, he is currently pursuing a Masters of Arts in Performance Studies at NYU.

Kestryl Cael is currently developing 348, his newest solo performance piece. 348 is a searing examination of madness and forced institutionalization in America, rooted in Kestryl’s own experiences of being held against his will in a “therapeutic boarding school” for a year as a teenager. As part of PoMo Freakshow Productions, Kestryl is currently working with his partner, Sassafras Lowrey, to develop a performance examining the politics of passing. Traitors without (T)reason explores the themes of betrayal, privilege, invisibility, sacrifice, subversion, and loss that are inextricably tied into public passing.

Kestryl Cael lives in New York City with his partner, two puddle-shaped cats, and a chihuachsund.

Links:

Pomo Freakshow – Official Site

Friend Kestryl on Myspace here!