Putting Their Transition First And Being Authentically True

It's only one week out from the opening night of their biggest show to date and 23-year-old Kurt Pimblett can't quite decide if they're nervous or excited. Landing the highly sought-after role of Max - a transgender teenager formerly known as Maxine - in the Belvoir production of Taylor Mac's Hir, Pimblett is trying their best to brush off mounting expectation and simply immerse themself in the creative process.

"The rehearsal period is so intense and insular, the way a scene is and feels at the top of the day can be totally different to the end of the day," the Wollongong native shares over the phone. "I guess because of that, I'm not too nervous - but also not feeling particularly ready."

Despite having relocated to Sydney for the role, the journey from script to stage hasn't been entirely unfamiliar for the young actor.

"One of the things that has really struck me so far is how similar the process is compared to other smaller productions I've been involved in. One of the cool things about theatre is that it's such a practical form - everything needs to be physically and mentally nutted out. That doesn't change."

Labelled an "audacious and uproarious black comedy" by the New York Times, the play by Taylor Mac tackles themes of adultery, drug addiction, sexual abuse, incest and alcoholism; all while maintaining the guise of a traditional piece of kitchen-sink theatre - one which depicts a truly dysfunctional modern family. Fittingly, the show's title "hir" refers to a third-person singular, gender-neutral pronoun - the pronoun of choice for Pimblett's character Max - while Pimblett prefers to be referred to as "they", "their" and "them".

The play follows the uncouth story of a Marine named Isaac who returns home from war to find that not only has his father had a stroke, but his mother has become somewhat unhinged and taken out revenge for years of marital abuse by dressing him up as a clown and force-feeding him oestrogen (a plot detail which has been flagged as problematic by some members of the local trans community). Oh, and his little sister, Maxine, has grown into a gangly teenager called Max.

Asking Kurt whether the exceptionally long audition process felt more competitive than usual, considering the close-knit transgender community which exists within an already small community of actors in Sydney. It was, after all, the very first time Belvoir has cast a trans actor to play a trans role.

"It was the exact opposite, actually," Pimblett replies. "Within the Sydney group, there were a lot of people I knew. But when they are your friends, you've worked with them before, when you care about them, it takes away some of that competitive edge."

"When I first read the whole play I was so struck by it that I didn't really care who got the role - I was just glad the play was being brought to life and wanted it to be realised as well as possible."

For Pimblett, the chance to embody the complicated and unapologetically flawed role of 17-year-old Max has already been a humbling one - adding some much-needed nuance to the mainstream media's often myopic 'tortured trans' composite character.

"There are a lot of points in the play which I found intensely relatable, but then there's also a sense of shame that comes with relating to things that are so intimately human," Pimblett says. "But you come to understand that you're not better than that - nobody is better than that. We're all human."

Reflecting on their own coming-out at the age of 19, Pimblett admits to feeling like their dream of becoming an actor had fallen beyond the realm of possibility.

"I had this very black and white way of thinking back then," Pimblett tells me. "I thought it was a choice. I thought I would have to choose between transitioning and being an actor. I really did think that there would be no roles, that nobody would want to cast me, or that I'd be cast as a woman forever."

"In that sense, I guess I did prioritise myself and my transition."