On the face of it the question ‘was Kurt Cobain trans?’ is the very definition of ‘no, next one please’. But Emma Frankland’s new show No Apologies addresses the query with a mix of impish cheekiness and impassioned justification.
And to be clear the question is not ‘did Kurt Cobain transition?’ or ‘what pronouns did Kurt Cobain use in private?’ but rather whether the Nirvana frontman’s various proclamations about wishing he was born female, wanting breasts, wearing dresses etcetera etcetera could be viewed as amounting to gender dysmorphia. Had he lived longer or in a different time, might this have amounted to something more?
Obviously this is one one level the stuff of very niche Reddit forums. Frankland is not the first to float the theory Cobain was trans, but it is essentially based on selective, academic readings of things he said in public, by people who didn’t actually know him.
Performing in a recreation of Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged set, wearing the same outfit Cobain wore for the recording, Frankland repeatedly tells us ‘he was definitely trans’. But it’s with a mischievous grin. Might have been – sure. Definitely – I think the twinkle in Frankland’s eyes puts paid to that.
But her yearning for Cobain to have been a fellow trans woman is the real point of the show. As a teenage Nirvana fan, none of Frankland’s celebrity role models or favourite musicians were trans: it was basically an impossibility back then, and is hardly a crowded field now. If Cobain had been, the societal, social and intellectual hurdles to him (/her) realising this and on it are unimaginable.
It’s clever and moving and also I have to say the set, and the clips of the MTV recording (and Frankland herself singing a version of ‘All Apologies’) are all really fucking cool. In the ’90s and even the early ’00s Nirvana were so famous as to be wearyingly ubiquitous: look up the sales figures for MTV Unplugged if you want to give yourself a heart attack. But the dust has now settled on their fame and the show is a hearty reminder that Nirvana were in fact great – not just musically but politically. I’m fairly sure Cobain would have been delighted to be claimed as a trans icon.
Personally, I slightly lost interest in No Apologies when Frankland left Cobain behind and launched into a big dirgey poem about Icarus. It all started getting a bit more abstract and mystical and self-empowering. Earnest and emotional too: ie a lot less Nirvana-y. It’s a change in tone that I’m sure many will appreciate, but after 40 minutes of Nirvana musings I just couldn’t go all in on Frankland’s original songs and the more shamanic later tone. Still, it’s a provocative and poignant show that starts off very strong – and the two expanded 80-minute editions that will be played on Aug 21 and 23 at 5.30pm with a full live band look like a real treat.
