rice & beans theatre presents an in-development showing of local playwright Anais Mateusz West’s Tomboy (Chłopczyca) on July 18 at the Progress Lab 1422. The dance-theatre performance incorporates Slavic folklore and queer vampires to convey a trans coming-of-age story that West sees as an exploration of masculinity.

“This piece is very much for both myself and some of the other collaborators, an ability for us to indulge in the nerdy little gay teenagers we were,” West says. “We’ve been able to reclaim those parts of ourselves that maybe we had shame around and actually find a really joyful space to celebrate them.”

A playwright-audience discussion will follow this in-development showing. Tomboy is set to premiere at The Cultch’s Warrior Festival in March 2026.

Understanding masculinity

West’s experience as a gender-nonconforming teen growing up in a Polish immigrant household inspired Tomboy. They also interviewed other queer and trans peers of Polish heritage and conducted research into Slavic folklore.

“I was intrigued by this idea of how vampirism, and specifically how the Slavic folklore version of vampirism could be a metaphor for masculinity,” they say. “In particular, the aspects of masculinity that are both powerful and beautiful, but also harmful and violent in the wrong hands.”

Tomboy focuses on the Polish vampire, a Pagan idea that circulated in Poland’s countryside before the arrival of Catholicism. For West, a major difference between this vampirism and popular conceptions of vampires is the former’s emphasis on shapeshifting – a theme related to the trans experience.

“Vampires have been used to explore aspects of queerness and sexuality in a metaphorical way, especially in times when queerness couldn’t be spoken about overtly,” West points out, adding these references have gradually evolved. “There’s definitely a throughline around vampirism and sexuality, or aspects of sexuality that are taboo.”

Part of this exploration focuses on pre-Catholic views about this Polish vampire, particularly the rejection of black-and-white approaches to morality. Rather than only focusing on vampirism and sexuality, West wanted to explore their trans masculine experience of masculinity.

“When a lot of folks like me start to explore their trans masculinity, we have a hard time figuring out how we should be like masculine people because we’ve been growing up in these cultures that are so patriarchal and have harmful ideals of manhood,” they add.

Another theme of Tomboy is the role of memory. In the present, the non-binary protagonist learns that their childhood best friend was attacked by another Polish immigrant boy. They then revisits their adolescent memories.

“A lot of times as trans people, we didn’t have the words, the language, the ability to describe our gender experience,” West recalls. “This part of memory and revisiting your memory and reassessing it from your present understanding of self and gender plays a huge role in the piece.”

Finding language

Choregraphed by Oh Augustine, memory is also reflected in movements that combine deconstructions of folk and contemporary dance with unconventional movements from vampire or werewolf horror films. Tomboy also reflects West’s experiences with language in the Polish diaspora.

“The adults in the community are mostly Polish immigrants, and so they speak Polish all the time, especially to their children,” West shares.

In the play, young people interact in Polish with the adults and their gender expectations. But when children are hanging out without adults, English is used.

“They want to assimilate into Western culture, and so they only speak English,” West adds.

Tomboy’s title also reflects a lack of language: West recalls the term ‘tomboy’ was the “only word” they had growing up; words like ‘non-binary’ were inaccessible. Even the Polish title Chłopczyca is not a direct translation from English but is “boy with a feminine ending.”

While West is excited to share this work with the Polish diaspora, they hope Tomboy resonates with wider audiences and that it encourages people to question the roots of their assumptions about gender.

“I really wanted to create a depiction of the harm that comes from patriarchal culture in a nuanced and complex way,” West explains of their rejection of black and white moral frameworks. “Trans characters are not these benevolent, perfect beings; they’re very much flawed…and that complexity is something I hope people take away too.”

For more information on Tomboy (Chłopczyca), see www.riceandbeanstheatre.com

For more information on Anais Mateusz West, see www.anaiswest.com