A radical adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s most famous character: Dorothy Gale from Kansas.

That darling girl that queers have been worshipping since time immemorial. And thankfully, since she’s in the public domain, we’ve had the chance to take a few liberties and correct a few things Mr. Baum got wrong. Namely her gender. In our version, Dorothy Gale is, naturally, a trans woman.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a foundational queer text, and by exploring Dorothy’s gender in relation to previous portrayals, especially by Judy Garland, we’re hoping to center trans stories in a way that feels almost obvious in 2025 looking back at Dorothy’s history as a whole, both narratively and culturally.

spring 2024 workshop featuring Zoe Chen as Dorothy Gale with
Max Singer, Amber Avant, and Casey Worthington

DOROTHY GALE: A TRANS FANTASIA ON OZIAN THEMES bridges two worlds, offering the true story of a trans girl from Kansas who crash-landed in Oz, killed a witch, and asked the Wizard for gender-affirming surgeries. One hundred years later, and now a war criminal, Dorothy Gale is still stuck in Oz, the victim of bureaucratic convention, and no closer to a vagina than she was on day one.

Back on Earth, it’s 2012, and a pair of middle-aged sisters, Lucerne and Genevieve, are contending with their mother’s imminent death and preparing their Jersey shore house for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy. But just as a tornado swept Dorothy to Oz, Hurricane Sandy will do the same for Lucerne, Genevieve and their dying mother. An unlikely friendship ensues when Dorothy, Lucerne, and Genevieve find themselves thrust into the same story - and Dorothy watches from the wings as her new friends make a meteoric rise to fame as Oz’s newest witches. One Good, and one Wicked. 

This is a play about getting what you want. Or, it’s a play about not getting what you thought you wanted. This is a play about what happens when you see yourself played by Judy Garland. Or, it’s a play about wanting to be Judy Garland. This is a play about what happens when someone you love is dying. Or, it’s a play about what happens when someone you love is meant to die but doesn’t. This is a play about making a wish. This is a play about home.