Edfringe 2025: Altar

★★★★★

She’s wearing a wedding dress, sharing her excitement with empty space — speaking to someone who is not present at her wedding: “I think you should be there, but I can’t picture you in any bridesmaid dress.” Then we learn why — it is her former lover, someone she once loved and felt conflicted about: Dana, who is now Daniel.

Then Dan walks onto the stage, telling us he also imagines Sutton (the bride) being at his wedding, but he can’t picture where he would be — in what position he should stand.

This is not simply a description of unnamable love, but also of the experience of living as a non-gender-conforming person in this world — always trying to figure out where they belong, and always being placed, or misplaced, by others.

As the story unfolds, we found that there is still very strong dynamic between the two, though they haven’t seen each other, or even contact each other for ten years and have to asking what do they do for a living at the moment like two strangers. From Sutton’s job of being a science teacher, the conversation smoothly turns to her religion belief and her vision of having a “normal family” with a husband and children. While Dan on the other way chose a more rebellious life and becoming a writer and live openly as a transman.

The break between the two was so deep and irreconcilable that they no longer contacted each other, yet Sutton kept Googling Dan’s name, following his writings, and reading his books. We see Sutton at times struggling to make sense of her own choice, yet still holding to it, as the “unnaturalness” ( in Sutton's words) of being with Dan, or Dana, was unbearable for her.

What moves me most, however, is Dan telling the story of how he first realized he wanted to become Dan: it was because of Sutton, in her bedroom, calling him “Daniel.” Though she did so without much consciousness, it pointed to the truth of where Dana stood in the world — to Dan’s position.

The show was very touching, addressing transgender issues through real-life experiences and making them relatable to everyone — whether they have felt the pain of being unable to love, or to be loved by, someone who truly loves them but cannot accept who they are. I hope everyone brings their queer friends, non-queer friends, or even queer-phobic friends to see the show — perhaps it will change their view.