"Man and Moon" Shines Spotlight on Breast Cancer & Trans Lives

Picture of Man and Moon by Siena Marilyn Ledger

October 14, 2023

“Man and Moon” Shines Spotlight on Breast Cancer & Trans Lives

Get tickets to "Man and Moon" click here

Moxie Theatre, a non-profit production house in San Diego, California, founded in 2004, releases the timely and touching play Man and Moon as part of its 2023 season lineup this November.

The play, written by Siena Marilyn Ledger, opens on the tail end of breast cancer awareness month (October), bringing attention to two seemingly diverging issues via the play’s lovable characters. Aaron, a transitioning man, and Luna, a precocious coming-of-age girl with an affinity for space who is losing her mother to breast cancer, meet each other while waiting in an oncology ward. “Waiting” catalyzes the development of an unlikely friendship in this 90-minute, two-person play.

“It’s this tender connection that drew me to this play. The writing is magnificent, and the characters are recognizable,” says Desireé Clarke Miller, the Executive Artistic Director of Moxie Theatre and Director of the play “Man and Moon.” The play is especially touching for her because her sister is a breast cancer survivor.

“This play explores in the most poetically honest way the struggles of that not only for the folks experiencing breast cancer but also for how it affects the people around them.”

“Man and Moon” is being embraced and applauded by the Trans community for creating a lead role for Trans actors and turning the spotlight on a community that has been shunned and misunderstood.

“You all know that the climate for our Trans folks is not ideal. A reason why this has happened is because we’ve been erased from history and from the public eye, on purpose for many, many years, but we’ve always been here,” says Farah Dinga, Assistant Director and Cultural Consultant for the play.

At the First Look for “Man and Moon,” Dinga told the audience, “When we are unable to have empathy, or we don’t have people who are actively humanizing that identity, it makes it a much easier place to breed hate.”

Dinga is excited about how “Man and Moon” will help create a greater understanding of the Trans community. “Something that I really love about this play is that it gives the opportunity to people who might not know a Trans person or might not know that they know a Trans person to humanize us and our stories.”

“I’m thrilled to see “Man and Moon” as part of Moxie’s lineup in my hometown. It’s deeply meaningful that Moxie stimulates conversations around significant human matters,” says Ledger.

When: November 5 – December 3, 2023 (Opening Night: Nov. 10th)

Where: Moxie Theatre — 6663 El Cajon Blvd suite n, San Diego, CA 92115 — (858) 598-7620

About Man and Moon by Siena Marilyn Ledger

Siena Marilyn Ledger (Playwright) they/he/she is a playwright and actor from San Diego, CA. Their educational journey includes graduating from Cal State Fullerton’s BFA Acting program and completing the Tutterow Fellowship at Chicago Dramatists. Much of their work is characterized by its symbolic nature, delving into queer dynamics and experiences through the use of poetic language and exploration of spacetime. Ledger has a portfolio of seven stage and screenplays, three of which have been produced in various locations across the United States and abroad. You can connect with them on Instagram: @tadasiena or visit their website: gayforplays.com.

“Man and Moon” started as a collaborative collegiate project with director Kat Devoe-Peterson. In 2022, it debuted in three cities as part of the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, with performances at Good Company Theatre, The 16th Street Theater NFP, and Oregon Contemporary Theatre.

Click to read our interview with playwright, Siena Marilyn Ledger

Note: the transcript was completed with computer voice recognition software; please excuse the minor errors in punctuation and grammar.

Video Transcript

Farah Dinga:
So a just like, can we snap for a trans lead in a show Period. So rare, so grateful, so excited about that. One of the reasons why I feel like this play is so important to me and a reason why I’ve just been so excited to share it with people and to get to be working on it is because I think, I’m sure y’all know, the climate for our trans folks right now is not ideal.

And a reason why this has happened is because we’ve been erased from history and from the public eye on purpose for many, many years. But we’ve always been here. Queer people have always been here. Trans people have always been here. And what happens when you don’t know any trans people or you think you don’t know any trans you, is that we become a mystery, right? And when something is mysterious to us, when we don’t have an understanding of it, when we are unable to empathize with it, or if we don’t have people who are actively humanizing that identity to us, it makes it a much easier place to breed hate. So something that I really love about this play is that it gives the opportunity for people who might not know a trans person or who might not know they know a trans person to humanize us in our stories.