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How do you picture your burger? Sandwiched between two buns? Perhaps it will be served in a neat cardboard box for leisurely consumption elsewhere. Or maybe it will not be consumed at all, but thrown. This is what Travis Alabanza experienced on Waterloo bridge in broad daylight in April, 2016. A burger aimed and landed. A trans slur hurled and heard. Nothing was done and a mark was made.

The burger is ubiquitous, much loved and universal. It is also the site of violence as trans artist Alabanza and director Sam Curtis Lindsay explore in a seventy minute piece of theatre designed to implicate each and every audience member. That we as individuals must ‘step up’ is the unavoidable message at an unwritten and contingent conclusion. The burger serves as a deliciously emotive storytelling device. Made right in front of our eyes, we watch its journey from little parts to a recognisable ‘whole’. Part comic cookery show, part memoir but always making sure that we, the audience, do not float away into Hot Dog dream land: this is important and we must listen. “Why is trans never seen as a destination, but as a synonym for a broken body?”Alabanza wonders out loud. They are a they and he/she does not always cut it, does not cover every type of body, impulse or existence. The stage is their safe space. They are in charge and jokes, sharp in intent but good-natured in delivery, are doled out in generous portions. A black body, dressed in a blue smock, turquoise heels and polka dot socks is here to bring prejudice to bear. Both their own stories and, crucially, others are deconstructed in front of our very eyes. Alabanza needs help, from a certain type of person, we “have some shit we gotta work through” but so do we all. 

Much like its namesake, Burgerz maintains a stylish, slick but always surprising aesthetic and choreography. The domesticated ‘kitsch’ scene by set and costume designer Soutra Gilmour is brought to beautiful irony in a show that refuses to be put in a box and wrapped up with a satisfying and neat bow. As the age old saying goes, art imitates life and as such, a side salad of discomfort is highly necessary. There is no such thing as an innocent burger. The next time we tune out on a bus in order to tune in to a playlist ‘made earlier’, we may remember “melody is a privilege for those that do not need to be aware”. Despite being labeled recently as ‘the most vegan friendly city in the world’ Dublin needs this show and it’s burgerz just as much as anywhere.