By MIKE DUNHAM
Scott Turner Schofield: in "Debutante Balls" at Out North.
In his hour-long monologue, “Debutante Balls,” Scott Turner Schofield recounts multiple rites of passage; his own experiences of “coming out” as gay and transgendered — he was born a girl and now lives as a man with assistance of medications — and the custom among southern gentry of presenting their daughters to polite society with extravagant parties. These are also described as “coming out,” he notes.

“I’ve come out more times than should technically be allowed,” he says, counting both revelations about himself and the formal tradition.

He recounts three debutante balls in which he was involved. The first, in his home town of Charlotte, North Carolina, was just to give him a plausible excuse for skipping out of the house at night to hang with other gay youth. He’d tell his mother that he was with a friend at some important pre-ball event and no questions were asked. How the cover was blown is a punch line we won’t reveal here.

The second time, he was invited to attend while in college and bursting with political energy. He went expecting to use it as a forum for scoring points for radical feminism. With a chagrined look, he concludes that story explaining that it’s neither classy nor gracious to try and break up a party while everyone else is having fun.

The third time, at the insistence of a friend, he found himself at the mercy of a cosmetic counter clerk to get his make-up right in a hurry. Then, with the help of much gin, proceeded to tell the mother of a high school friend all about himself in comically slurred speech.

Schofield never strays far from well-timed comedy, yet he uses humor as a vehicle to raise questions of gender identity, acknowledging one’s feelings, “existing in your own life” and social expectations.

“I’m middle class,” he confesses at one point, adding that he’s more likely to make a down payment on a house than pay for sex surgery, should he ever come into that kind of money. In putting on a dress for a debutante ball, he not only crosses sexual boundaries, but boundaries of class as well.

Getting away with it is a matter of making the right entrance with style, grace and charm, he says. “Coming out” becomes “coming through” with your self-respect more or less intact.

An enormous long, white formal gown serves as his main prop. He hides behind it, pops inside it, uses it as a puppet, dances with it. He also dances with the audience and serves sweet tea to as many people as he can reach. The tea, another southern custom, serves as a metaphor for tradition itself. You have to decide to spit or swallow, he says, and if you swallow, how much?

The themes may not appeal — or even feel relevant — to those who have not shared his experience, though he gets the crowd to acknowledge that no one really describes themselves as “normal.” But the writing and delivery are good; one leaves feeling amused, ruminative and — most important —that the event has not been a waste of time.

"Debutante Balls" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 4 p.m. Sunday at Out North, 3800 Debarr Rd. Tickets are $20 at outnorth.org. After the Saturday performance there’ll be a special “Coming Out Celebration” with writer/performer Scott Turner Schofield featuring southern staples like sweet tea, biscuits, cole slaw and dancing. Suggested donation $5.

Find Mike Dunham online at adn.com/contact/mdunham or call 257-4332.

View an audio slideshow of Schofield talking about “Debutante Balls” below. Link to an article about his recent stint on an ABC television reality show, “Conveyor Belt of Love,” at adn.com/playblog.