Warren Riley is a fourth-year English student who both wrote and stars in his new play “Urgent Care,” a production which blends surrealism with real scenarios and language. Riley said this story follows a transgender man navigating relationships and adulthood after his girlfriend becomes miraculously pregnant.
“I want to tell people that trans people are among you,” Riley said, “that we want the same things you want, that we hurt the same way you hurt, that our blood bleeds the same color.”
Riley said the inspiration for this story came from reflecting on his own transition, specifically being a man at the OBGYN. Undergoing a hysterectomy and being at a women’s health office was an absurdity that shaped the core of this play, Riley said.
“I’m just this guy that’s in the waiting room,” Riley said. “I thought that was quite funny. I think there’s many parts of, like, adult life as a trans person that the only way you could get through it is to kind of laugh about it.”
Riley wanted to write a play that focuses on transgender adulthood, the playwright said. Because he’s been in the acting world for so long, Riley said he has seen how few trans roles and stories there are. He said that even when those stories are told, they are often about coming out or realizing you’re trans, but he was interested in telling the story of the strange happenings of an adult who has already transitioned.
Riley said he wanted to put this play up at UCLA specifically because he has received his gender healthcare from UCLA since he was 15. This play does not approach gender health didactically, Riley said, but draws from his real experiences within the hospital system.
During the writing process, Riley said he looked back at conversations he’s had with his partner about parenthood. He said he often speaks about the desire to have a family with someone because you want to have children who look like the person you love the most. Many queer couples have to come to terms with the fact that they can’t have children and have a moment of realizing that their dream is not possible, Riley said. He wanted to imagine this dream without making fun of it, Riley said, leading him to the idea of an immaculate conception.
Riley said that he has found that the play is full of love which he didn’t expect. The trans main character is surrounded by wonderful cis characters, Riley said, which he hopes shows that the goal of the story is to remove the labels we easily tack on to people.
“The most important part of the play to me was seeing a trans person live out very quotidian, daily parts of life, like going to the doctor, having a fight with a loved one, having a family,” Riley said. “And I think my point to that is that we exist everywhere. I feel like I’m a part of a group of people that people are really afraid of, like a mythic legend.”
Riley said that this is his first time taking on the role of playwright although he has been acting since he was very young. It wasn’t until his sophomore year of college that he began considering writing, a process that he said has been deeply terrifying for him, but simultaneously rewarding.
While Riley wrote and is acting in “Urgent Care,” Cypress Cai, a third-year theater student, is directing it. The two have collaborated many times and work closely on this piece. Cai said that they decided that Riley will stay out of the playwright’s role in rehearsal and really take on his job as the actor. This has created a space where the writing can be treated as if the playwright is not at rehearsal, the director said.
“I often find even if an actor says something a way that I did not expect, I almost always like it more,” Riley said. “I really do, because I think it’s more honest. It’s more what that person would want to say or what feels truthful to that character.”
Sami Kuncharapu, a second-year acting student, who plays Riley’s girlfriend, said she finds Riley’s writing to be very natural and that the conversations feel unscripted. Cai also said that Riley’s writing has a natural flow, yet a fast-paced conversation quality, calling him a realist who has been able to create characters that are able to talk like real people, but within themes that involve supernaturality.
Kuncharapu said that her and Riley’s close relationship in the acting process has allowed her the space to figure out who her character is. Riley is an open person who’s incredibly kind and giving, Kuncharapu said, and she has found that his ability to give allows them to bounce off of each other’s energy.
Cai said Riley’s work is deeply human and asserts humanity with trans people, sending the message that trans people exist in the world. While the play tackles trans issues, Cai said it’s not a trans play and they have worked to make it a story for everyone. Cai said that they believe that even if people don’t relate, they should leave feeling connected to the characters and believe in them.
“We have a culture now of avoiding vulnerability, avoiding being earnest, avoiding out of the fear of embarrassing yourself or out of fear,” Riley said. “I think everything I write, everything I see that hits me the most is a call to embarrass yourself, is a call to, like, be open with the people around you, connect with the people around you.”
