New York-based Australian performer and two-time Griffin Award winner Ice Chase will finally make her Sydney Theater Company debut in July with Triple X – a semi-autobiographical trans love story that’s evocative, tender and hilarious. .

Originally scheduled for the 2020 season before being postponed due to the COVID pandemic, Triple X examines the relationship between “ Wall Street banker brother ” Scotty (Josh McConville – Cloud Nine) and trans performer Dexie (Chase ) who start an affair, just a few months before Scotty marries his “perfect” fiancée.

Chase says it’s vitally important that a range of queer stories be told on the main Australian stages so that audiences can better understand the experiences of others.

“Triple X is a unique story and it’s mostly from the perspective of the straight guy romantically interested in a trans woman,” Chase said.

“We’ve never seen anything (with empathy) exploring what he and they would experience, and never on a main stage. I think the general public still struggles to fully understand the trans experience, but I think “He wishes it. I hope it helps. Even more than identity politics, Triple X is a love story between two passionate and high-conflict souls. And who doesn’t love a sexy thwarted romance ?!

At the helm of that production is STC associate director Paige Rattray (Leenane’s Beauty Queen), who has worked on the show with Glace for over four years. Rattray described Chase as “one of the most entertaining but also the most profound writers I have worked with.”

“It can be a rare combination; often comedy can overtake tragedy or vice versa. Ice rides this wave expertly in Triple X,” Rattray said.

“I think only someone with lived experience of Ice would be able to navigate that ruse in this particular narrative. Toxic masculinity, scrutiny of societal norms, gender politics, and love; it’s all woven together. expertly. Working with Ice on this piece has definitely changed the way I think about the world and I feel very lucky. “

Rattray has assembled a stellar supporting cast for the series, including Christen O’Leary, Contessa Treffone (The Harp in the South) and Elijah Williams during his STC debut.

Chase said that while the explicit language and frankness about everything sex could face for some people, it was important to her that the show didn’t censor her actual experiences.

“In my world, people talk and act like this,” she said. “I understand this may be shocking to some, but you can’t separate the explicit sexuality from the romantic reality of many trans people’s lives. We so often exist in the shadows. I wanted to be brutally honest and make people experience what it is. inside.”

A self-proclaimed “trans-queen,” Glace has spent most of the last decade in New York City where she dabbled in storytelling – hosting various club and comedy nights across town and running her own. Dream Queen Tours tourist guide company. As a playwright, Ice won two Griffin Awards as well as the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award. Triple X was recently a finalist for the prestigious International Dramaturgy Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Award, and was shortlisted for the Nick Enright Award for Dramatic Writing at the 2021 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Ice is currently commissioned by STC for Drag County.

Tickets for Triple X will go on sale to the general public starting at 9 a.m. this Friday, May 28.