None Too Fragile Theater put on three performances only over the weekend of December 13-14 called “Exact Change.” The one-person drama is one of those stories that needs to be told, the artistic co-founder of the company has said. And he was correct.

The drama tells the true story of Christine Howey, who is a Cleveland, Ohio-based playwright, actor, theater critic, performance poet and, for these performances, the star. For the first 45 years of her life, Christine was Richard. “Exact Change” records the journey Howey undertook to deal with her gender identification issue in a time when it was (and is still) misunderstood, and in some camps, despised.

As Richard, Howey was also a local actor. The biggest role of his life happened to be his life. He hid his true nature – from everyone but also through dating and marriage to Dinah, with whom he had a female child. Part of the narrative of this story tells of how that marriage did not work – for either Richard or Dinah. The harder Richard tried to hide it and act “normal,” the worse the marriage was, for Dinah could feel the emotional distance that came between them throughout their years together.

Turns out, though, that Dinah ended up being seemingly his biggest supporter when Richard went through the transgender surgery to become Christine. Dinah, who remarried and, as Christine tells it, could be happy once he was, held his coming out party to 70 of their friends. That’s pretty astounding and, along with it, a tale of the incredible dimensions of human love.

Christine Howey in “Exact Change.” Photo courtesy of None Too Fragile Theater

To help Christine tell her own tale, as part of the set (which basically is a chair and a window with blinds behind which Richard once hid to protect his secret), there is a movie screen. As the story progresses, we see images of the young child Richard, through his marriage, and then through his first forays wearing women’s clothing, on to the ultimate changeover into Christine. There is also a section when Christine shares how some people figured her for a lesbian. The screen came alive with a portion of the Oprah Winfrey show where she was talking with someone about the difference between gender orientation and sexual orientation. They are, Christine makes abundantly clear, very different things.

It’s a compelling tale under the direction of Scott Plate that gets told alternately with humor (some of it dark), pathos, anger and argumentation of the best kind. Howey, as herself, penned the tale and certainly knows how to deliver it. Part of the audience response has to be the recognition of her really putting herself out there. It was a brave thing to do in life, and equally brave to tell it onstage.

The narrative transcends Christine’s personal saga to embrace the larger topic of gender identity and the social problems people have to cope with. In this work, Christine Howey becomes the symbol – and the dramatic lightning rod – for the jeering, snootiness, misunderstandings and prejudice, among other things, that those dealing with gender identity issues can experience. Conversely, there were friends who realized that the person was still the person they always knew – and thereby made it easier to get through.

For that reason, one can easily imagine this play being done by another actor. In this production, it was Howey herself, but it need not be. Actually one can picture – in the hands of a capable actor and with makeup and staging – “Exact Change” being done by either a man or a woman. It was special, though, to see Howey herself in the role.

Kudos to None Too Fragile for bringing yet another story that might otherwise not be seen in the Akron area.