Cissy: Three Gender Plays

Auhtor: Dave Deveau Publisher: Talonbooks (2020) “Cissy” is a collection of three plays on gender and young LGBTQ+ folk by the acclaimed playwright Dave Deveau. In “Nelly Boy,” an unknown man sits in a nondescript room trying to discover how Nelly came to be running naked along the side of a six-lane highway. Nelly’s world slowly unfolds; following Nelly’s epic journey through suburbia, we discover the inner workings of a brilliant teenage mind trying to grapple with the greater picture. Caught in the middle of opposing gender ideals, Nelly is forced to confront hatred and his/her own perceptions of the world in order to survive. “My Funny Valentine” examines the 2008 murder of 14-year-old Lawrence Laetitia King who asked Brandon McInerney to be his valentine. The next day, during first period, McInerney took out a gun and shot King twice in the head. On February 13, King was declared brain-dead, but was left on life support so organs could be removed for donation. King passed away o