SuperTrans

We started by naming traits specific to ourselves. Some of them were physical traits, others emotional, and others experiential. We named things we were comfortable with, happy about, or proud of. Then we chose to focus on one. People chose everything from a beard, to the way they walk, to their maternal instinct. I ask the participants to create an image of that trait with our bodies. Then we push it to the extreme. First, we push it until the image takes over the whole body. Then we give the trait its own tone of voice, then its own movement. We make the trait so extreme that it becomes a super power. Once our super powers are established, we name them. Next, I have everyone sit to watch the playing area and asked one person to act out a simple “problem” (such as opening a heavy door). The actor would then get to choose which super hero they wanted by saying something like “If only Bearded Wonder were here” or “Please help me HandyWoman!” and the corresponding Super Trans would have to join the scene and devise a way to use their superpower to solve the problem. Sometimes I ask them to create more complex or difficult problems like a coming out disaster, and other times it is more fun to play silly scenes like opening a jar using a lilting voice. After playing this for several scenes, participants are asked to regroup and think about traits that they liked less, or traits that were mocked by others. We go through the same process of devising a SuperTrans name, power, movement, and voice to correspond with our new traits and played the game again.