In the Tall Grass

In The Tall Grass is written in response to the murder of Shade Schuler, a 22 year old African American transgender woman whose decomposed body was found dumped in a field in the Medical District of Dallas in July of 2015. Shade’s story is set against the backdrop of wider atrocities across the US, which saw at least 23 trans or gender-nonconforming individuals murdered in 2015 alone, more than the total number of trans murders than in any other year that advocates have recorded.

In the wake of Shade’s murder, the play focuses on a community that was left asking ‘Why?’, and fearing who could be next. Told through first-hand testimonies of transgender women of color in Dallas, In The Tall Grass explores the circumstances which force many of them to exist in the underworld – ignored by society, cut off from support and legal systems, and condemned for what is ironically known as ‘survival sex work.’

For mature audiences only. Contains adult language and situations not suitable for young children.