UVic alumnus Link Bechtold emphasizes trans voices in his first post-grad production
Image courtesy of Link Bechtold.
In the midst of graduating in Spring 2025, Link Bechtold began the process of putting his play, Tiresias, on stage. He began writing the play in the first semester of his fifth and final year at UVic, and felt incredibly lucky for the opportunity to work on this project.
Bechtold told the Martlet that taking an extra year to finish his undergrad made for a smoother transition from student to playwright. “I feel like I got a nice transition in there through taking a fifth year,” he said. “In that first term of that fifth year, I took a directed study to lock in and finish the first draft … and direct a staged reading of it.”
Bechtold was first introduced to the character of Tiresias in 2022, when the Phoenix Theatre tried to put on an adaptation of the Greek myth. According to some versions of the myth, Tiresias was a blind prophet of the god Apollo, who was transformed from man to woman by the goddess Hera after displeasing her. Tiresias, as a woman, marries and has children, but eventually follows the advice of Apollo, displeases Hera again in the same way, and is transformed back.
The Phoenix production was ended due to controversy and backlash over “offensive storytelling,” but Bechtold decided he “really liked the idea of telling Tiresias as a trans story” and wanted to write a version of the myth in a way that amplifies trans voices.
While Bechtold’s play Tiresias follows the myth centred around the Greek character, Tiresias, he changed aspects of the original story. One such change is the setting; Bechtold’s play takes place in the 2010s, as opposed to Ancient Greece, and features modern technology, surgeries, and medications, making it more relatable to a modern audience.
Another major change in the play from the original myth is that Bechtold wanted all characters to own their trans identity. “The biggest change,” said Bechtold, “is giving all the characters agency in their own transitions, and making them the ones who actively pursued it, rather than it being something that the Gods did [to] them.”
In his production, Bechtold also writes that Tiresias keeps her identity as a woman, instead of de-transitioning. In Bechtold’s adaptation, “she’s a trans woman and stays a trans woman.” Bechtold recognizes the validity of de-transitioning stories, though that wasn’t exactly the story he wanted to tell. Still wanting to represent that aspect of the story in his adaptation, Tiresias “ figures out that some part of their transition wasn’t right for them” in her navigation through womanhood.
The play aimed to amplify trans voices, especially those who are often underrepresented. Bechtold said he wanted to represent as many stories and experiences as possible in his Tiresias. “I didn’t see myself in a lot of trans media,” says Bechtold, referring to the characters with extreme gender dysphoria in childhood he often encountered. “Especially more mainstream stuff that may or may not have been written by trans authors … so I wanted to write a play that questions that narrative and calls it out a little bit. That there is not one narrative, actually, there are many.”
In doing so, Bechtold emphasizes the importance of trans stories being written by trans people. “It’s important for trans people to tell trans stories, because then they’re more nuanced. They create stronger validation for the other trans people out there. And because they’re more nuanced, [they provide] greater learning,” he said.
According to Bechtold, the representation of transness in some media can feel like a lecture for cisgender people about the trans experience. In his play, Bechtold emphasizes a wide range of trans stories through characters who each bring a different trans voice to light. This allows the audience to learn firsthand by watching the characters simply live as trans people, making the play feel like an experience rather than an explanation.
In bringing these trans stories to the stage, Bechtold hopes his play invites people to think a little harder about gender, and to deconstruct their assumptions. Additionally, he urges people to try new things, saying, “Regardless of how you identify, cis or trans, if you think something would make you happy, I think you should be allowed to pursue it.”
Whether it be writing or experimenting with gender, Bechtold said that “you don’t know what’s going to make you happy until you do. Or until you give things a shot.”
