Fieldtrip: “Living in the Mainstream” by Pippa Fleming

On the night of the Cal vs. USC game, I decided instead to see my friends' performance of a show she had written, directed, and was starring in! The show entitled, “Living in the Mainstream”: The Ms. K.I.A. Chronicles -- A Black, butch, lesbian, warrior, drag king’s tale of survival in America, was showing at the Museum of African Diaspora in San Francisco. Co-sponsors included The Endangered Species Project and the GLBT Historical Society of San Francisco.

This music filled play allowed me to witness the transformation of Pippa Fleming, a Black butch lesbian into Ms. K.I.A., a drag king/male impersonator poet, philosopher and cabaret performer. The several poetry-infused musical numbers took me as an audience member on a journey back to the days reminiscent of Harlem Renaissance cabaret performers, Gladys Bentley and Storme DeLarverie and mystically catapulted the entire crowd into a current reality that left us trying to catch our breath, while being part of a cultural revolution.

The Ms. K.I.A. Chronicles is part of a larger full-length play called “Living in the Mainstream(LITM).” LITM is a time-shifting story that speaks about the struggles of Pippa, a young girl coming into herself as a tomboy and coming out as a butch lesbian.

I really enjoyed the new perspectives presented in the show and learned a lot about struggles faced by queer women and how they relate to all of society.