History is rich with people who made incredible impacts that have been lost to time. William Dorsey Swann is one of these people. The first American queer activist is a story rich with potential and a depth of character and emotion. The character is fascinating and would make a great story in and of itself, but the performer, Les, does something very smart with his presentation.
By tying in his personal experiences as a black man in today's America, Les highlights all the ways in which the world hasn't changed despite the fact that it should. His experiences with police, and the experiences of racism in the modern day are frustrating to see that in the past years how some things haven't changed.
The story itself has a frustrating lack of details, but only because the history books aren't as thorough as they should be. This is a story that I would love to know more about - as would Les- but what is here is brilliantly done, thoroughly researched and beautifully told. His smart choices tie something from the past into the modern day to create something that is both reverent and relevant to todays world.
Matti McLean is in Orlando Fringe presenting A CANADIAN EXPLAINS EUROVISION TO AMERICANS. The song I think fits most nicely with this show from Eurovision is from Netherlands 2021 with Birth of a New Age.