hen Travis Alabanza speaks, it is with the calm composure of somebody who is done seeking approval. Despite the crackling connection of the Zoom call we are using, their voice is confident as they discuss their motivations behind their latest book, None of the Above: Reflections on Life Beyond the Binary. Since stepping into the limelight in 2018 after their debut show Burgerz ignited audiences internationally, Travis Alabanza has never shied away from creating art about their experiences in the world as a Black, mixed, non-binary person. Yet Alabanza’s work often flips the well thumbed script that casts oppressed people as lead in the tale of their mistreatment, boldly interrogating the faults of a society that allows such mistreatment to occur. None of the Above does just this; constructed around seven different phrases that have all, at one point, been levelled at Alabanza, the book turns a mirror on society, forcing us all to reflect on the ways we think, act and treat one another. Delving deeper however, the book resists straightforward categorisation. Alabanza’s lyrical style and theatrical grounding is the book’s lifeblood and with this, the
