Ania Upstill (they/them) is a queer and trans performer, theatre maker, teaching artist and clown.
A graduate of the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre (Professional
Training Program), Ania’s recent work celebrates LGBTQIA+ artists with a focus on gender diversity. Ania frequently creates work under their company Butch Mermaid Productions (BMP), most recently premiering in Philly Fringe 2023. Under BMP they have created The Tea, a new solo show in drag about the colonial history of Britain’s favorite drink; Antonio!, a new punk pirate musical about Shakespeare’s queerest character; Too Much Hair, a musical cabaret about gender euphoria, Into the Bush, a queer circus-theatre project, Proud Voices, an audio festival that played internationally in three major cities and Transhumance, Ania’s solo clown show about the experience of being transgender that was most recently performed at the Kennedy Center for Pride 2024.
Outside of BMP, in 2023 they performed in War and Play, a clown show about the war in Ukraine in the Criminal Queerness Festival by National Queer Theater, as well as devising and performing in Today’s Mess, a clown show about diversity, at Nancy Manocherian’s the cell theater Off-Off-Broadway. Other projects include producing a drag installation in the Auckland Botanic Gardens (2022) and directing and directing Queer ballet Sapphic Lake (2021). Performance credits include In Many Hands (Brooklyn Academy of Music); Thou Shalt Not (Thinkery & Verse); and R+J: A Genderqueer/Female Reimagination (Hypokrit Productions).