Almost 2% of high school students identify as transgender, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than a third report being bullied or having attempted suicide.

To bring attention to the issues facing transgender teens, Dallas Children’s Theater commissioned Bruce R. Coleman to write a play, Andi Boi, about a student who returns to school with a new identity.

To support next February’s production as well as community-building activities intended to promote conversation and understanding, DCT has received $150,000 from the Theatre Communications Group, a national service organization, with funds provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Andi Boi is only one of six projects in the country to have been awarded the sizable grant.

In the meantime, Cara Mia Theatre Co. is currently producing another play, Swimming While Drowning, on the subject.

In its original version, two gay male teenagers meet at a Los Angeles homeless shelter and fall in love. In the Dallas premiere of Detroit writer Emilio Rodriguez’s 2017 play, one of the characters, Mila, is transgender.

J Davis-Jones (left) and Dominic Pecikonis star as teenagers who fall in love at a Los Angeles homeless shelter in Cara Mia Theatre Co.'s production of Detroit playwright Emilio Rodriguez's "Swimming While Drowning." (Linda Blase)

Cara Mia worked with Rodriguez and New York-based director Jorge B. Merced to refashion the script to bring attention to the special hardships faced by transgender people.

“The ’T’ in LGBT is incredibly underrepresented and to be able to find a voice through Mila’s story has been an enlightening experience,” says J Davis-Jones, who portrays the 15-year-old in Cara Mia’s production. Davis-Jones stars opposite Dominic Pecikonis as Angelo.

Establishing the production’s relevance, Cara Mia cites statistics from the Human Rights Campaign showing that Texas leads the nation in the killing of transgender people — at least 15 since 2015, almost half in Dallas.

J Davis-Jones (left) and Dominic Pecikonis star as teenagers who fall in love at a Los Angeles homeless shelter in Cara Mia Theatre Co.'s production of Detroit playwright Emilio Rodriguez's "Swimming While Drowning." (Linda Blase)

Dallas Children’s Theater has been producing teen-issue plays for 15 years, covering topics like bullying, learning differences, teen brain development, eating disorders and dating violence, always with an outreach component that provides information and perspective.

“I believe theater provides a powerful tool during our children’s transition to adulthood by spotlighting some of the serious challenges they and their peers encounter along the way,” DCT founder and executive artistic director Robyn Flatt says in a blog post on the DCT website. “It is up to us to help all our children, irrespective of color, creed or gender orientation, to have a safe space for physical growth, an environment for creative discovery, and an open door for tolerance and acceptance.”

Coy Covington, a local actor who works at DCT as an executive assistant, suggested Coleman to Flatt for this year’s teen production. Best known as a director, Coleman has been writing plays for about a decade, he says. He based the title character on a boy he met while doing research.

Coleman says that while Andi Boi deals with a serious topic, it’s a warm and funny comedy. “As a gay man, I too kept a secret from my family until it became impossible to deny who I was anymore.”

Dallas teen actor Zander Pryor has been cast in the title role.

DCT is co-producing Andi Boi with Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in partnership with the First Unitarian Church of Dallas. Also sponsoring the production are Texas Instruments, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Capital One.

Details

Swimming While Drowning, Nov. 30-Dec. 15 at the Latino Cultural Center, 2600 Live Oak St. $10-$25. 214-516-0706. caramiatheatre.org.

Andi Boi, Feb. 7-16 at Dallas Children’s Theater, 5938 Skillman St. $16. 214-740-0051. dct.org.