Lay of the Land puts Local Struggle in a National Context

Tim Miller returns to Out North on September 18 & 19 to place "the emotional and political wreckage" of gay rights battles like Ordinance 64 in perspective with his tales of life as a traveling gay activist.

Lay of the Land is Tim Miller's saucy, sharp-knifed look at the State of the Queer Union during a time of trial. Careening from his sexy misadventures performing in 45 States, to marriage equality street protests, to the electoral assaults on gay folks all over the country, to his life as a grade-school flag monitor, to choking on cheap meat caught in his 10 year old gay boy's throat, Lay of the Land friskily gets at that feeling of gay folks being perpetually on trial, on the ballot, and on the menu!

And will Tim have something to say about Dan Sullivan's recent veto of the gay rights ordinance? You betcha!

Bent Alaska asked Tim about bringing Lay of the Land to Anchorage:

Q. How does our local struggle for an anti-discrimination ordinance fit into Lay of the Land?
A. Sullivan's veto of Ordinance 64 really sucks, especially with "Diversity" month in Anchorage! For us California folks, it really brings up all that toxic Prop 8 stuff. (Hmmm, 8 is the square root of 64!)

I think from 64 to Florida Ammendment 2 to Calif Prop 8 to today's Referendum 71 in Washington State that would stop WA domestic partnerships before they even start, it is the same basic principle of disrepecting the humanity for gay folks. It has nothing to do with Marriage Equality, as AO 64 and WA R-71 show. They don't want us to feel welcome in our own homes, our own country!

LAY OF THE LAND is all about the emotional and political wreckage of these post Prop 8/64 moments. When I performed the piece in Florida two months ago, the Prop 8 situation was immediately relatable to what they went through on election day with Amendment 2.

Q. Will you add Alaska to the outline map of America that you use in your show?
A. Sadly, the national lighting company ROSCO doesn't make a gobo effect with all 50 states. But I have added a great Alaska video section! I do refer to the lighting gobo in the performance and how it is messed up because it is missing Alaska and Hawaii.

Q. Have you visited or performed in Alaska before?
A. I have perfomed in Anchorage once before, at Out North in 2004.

Q. What's next for you? Are you going to the National Equality March?
A. YES! I will be at the National Equality March. I will get up at 4 a.m. to get there from Carbondale Illinois, where I am performing at Southern Illinois University. I am very excited about all my touring, performances and residencies for the coming year with LAY OF THE LAND. It just premiered in LA in May and I've started a national tour. First stops this summer: L.A., Tallahassee, Cleveland Ingenuity Festival and Alaska! "Lay of the Land" indeed!

Miller is a solo performer, performance teacher, co-founder of two performance spaces, and author of the books Shirts & Skin, Body Blows, and 1001 Beds, an anthology of his performances and essays which won a 2007 Lambda Literary Award.

Tim Miller performs Lay of the Land at Out North on Sept 18 & 19, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20, and are available online.

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