Please Come Off-Book

By Kevin Kantor

Please Come Off-Book queers the theatrical canon we all grew up with. Kantor critiques the treatment of queer figures and imagines a braver and bolder future that allows queer voices the agency over their own stories.

Drawing upon elements of the Aristotelian dramatic structure and the Hero's Journey, Please Come Off-Book is both a love letter to and a scathing critique of American culture and the lenses we choose to see ourselves through.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Button Poetry
• Release date: Mar 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781943735952

Kevin Kantor

Kevin Kantor (they/them) is a trans non-binary poet and actor whose work explores survivorship & trauma, challenge rape culture, interrogate gender's role in storytelling, and raise queer voices, has been featured in Teen Vogue, Buzzfeed & Upworthy. Their collective work has garnered over 20 million online views. As an actor and trans literacy consultant they have worked with the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Statera Arts, and more. Kevin also worked on ABC’s American Crime and was featured alongside Lady Gaga at her 2016 Oscars Performance.

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I am sure that when a person is willing to share with you the trauma

PLEASE COME

OFF-BOOK

poems by

Kevin Kantor

© 2021 by Kevin Kantor

Published by Button Poetry / Exploding Pinecone Press

Minneapolis, MN 55403 | http://www.buttonpoetry.com

All Rights Reserved

Manufactured in the United States of America

Cover design: Nikki Clark

Illustrator: Robert Martin

ISBN 978-1-943735-91-4

Ebook ISBN 978-1-943735-95-2

CONTENTS

PLEASE COME OFF-BOOK

INCITING INCIDENT

I’M NOT NECESSARILY SAYING IT MEANS ANYTHING, BUT THE TWO VHS TAPES I WORE OUT AS A CHILD WERE THE 1954 FILMED STAGE PRODUCTION OF PETER PAN STARRING MARY MARTIN AND SHELLEY DUVALL’S FAERIE TALE THEATRE PRESENTS PINOCCHIO STARRING PAUL REUBENS

BEGINNING WITH THE REHEARSAL ROOM FOR A CHILDREN’S SHOW, ENDING WITH MY YOUNGEST BROTHER’S FUNERAL

MY MOTHER, PREGNANT WITH HER THIRD CHILD, AFTER GIVING BIRTH TO TWO CHILDREN WITH A DEBILITATING GENETIC DISORDER, IS ASKED IF SHE KNOWS WHAT SHE IS HAVING, or MEDEA SAYS

DAD BOUGHT A TELESCOPE & SAID

LET’S PLAY HOUSE

CHARACTER STUDY: ENKIDU

RISING ACTION

ONCE UPON A TIME IN IOWA

CHARACTER STUDY: CESARIO HELPS GANYMEDE REDRESS IN THE DARK

STAGE MAKEUP SYLLABUS

PEOPLE YOU MAY KNOW

SUBTEXT

I GO TO SEE A PLAY ABOUT COMPETITIVE AIR GUITAR AND WIND UP FEELING SEASICK

MEISNER TECHNIQUE: REPETITION

CLIMAX

SHOT LIST FOR THE SEX DREAMS I KEEP HAVING FEATURING ONE OF THOSE HETEROSEXUAL™ ACTORS WHO RECENTLY STARRED IN A GAY FILM

OEDIPUSSY

TRIGGER /

/ HEAP

SECONDARY CHARACTER

A SHORT PLAY

THE MAN PLAYING MY FATHER

FOR JANET FROM THE GOOD PLACE

THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH SONGS ABOUT EATING ASS

TO NATHAN STUBBLEFIELD (UNRECOGNIZED INVENTOR AND PREDECESSOR TO CELLULAR TECHNOLOGY) ON SEXTING

I AM SCROLLING THROUGH INSTAGRAM AND CRYING

I AM SURE

A LOVER USES MY PRONOUNS (ACT 1)

DENOUEMENT

DRESS REHEARSAL: MY GRANDFATHER’S FUNERAL

ESSENTIAL

ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE

A POEM I WROTE AFTER MY EX WROTE A SONG ABOUT ME

ALL THESE KIDS START EATING LAUNDRY DETERGENT AND ALL I CAN THINK IS

THE DIRECTOR GIVES ME NOTES AFTER OUR FIRST RUN-THROUGH

TRANSFORMATION

A LOVER USES MY PRONOUNS (ACT 2)

AFTER HE TELLS ME THAT POEMS ARE FOR HOPELESS ROMANTICS, I TELL HIM

THE MAN PLAYING MY FATHER

I AM WORKING A NINE-MONTH CONTRACT AT A THEATRE IN LOUISVILLE AND CAN’T FIND A GOOD THERAPIST, SO INSTEAD I GO TO THE LITERARY OFFICE AND ASK IF THERE’S A DRAMATURG AVAILABLE

A POEM IN WHICH THE ACADEMY WISHES TO NOMINATE ME FOR BEST ACTOR

REWRITES

DRESS REHEARSAL: FINAL DRESS

DRAMATURGICAL NOTES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

What is that unforgettable line?

—SAMUEL BECKETT

PLEASE COME

OFF-BOOK

PLEASE COME OFF-BOOK

some days i call for my gender

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