Summerhall really does come into its own during the Fringe, offering an exciting array of edgy work and a great vibe to hang out in. In 2016, writer and director Carly Wijs staged her critically acclaimed Us/Them (Fringe First winner 2016) in Summerhall, and she is here again with her new play, Boy, presented in collaboration with De Roovers and Teateri.

Wijis clearly does not shy away from complex and emotionally-charged topics. Boy is based on the true story of Bruce Reimar, who began gender reassignment procedures at the age of 17 months, having lost his penis at 8 months during a botched routine circumcision. Bruce’s distressed parents consulted Dr John Money, a psychologist from New Zealand working at John Hopkins University, who was considered a pioneer in the field of gender identity. Money’s advice was to bring up Bruce as a girl. Renamed Brenda, this is what his parents did until the age of 14, when they finally told him the truth.

There is so much to this and Wijis cleverly avoids steering us towards a clear moral conclusion. Instead, we are allowed to ruminate over the intricacies of this very multi-layered story ourselves. It is as much a story of where power is located—with certain men, with the medical establishment (its power to define what is normal, and what is a disorder, for example)—as anything else. After all, the chain of events begins with an unnecessary medical intervention—non-therapeutic male circumcision—which indeed some believe to be a form of genital mutilation.

And of course, all the way through we are confronted with complicated questions surrounding sex and gender and the role of nature versus nurture. The trouble is that the words ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’ are simple to say but, almost because they are so, they misrepresent the complexities of both biology and environment and the way they interact. It is really striking during the play, for example, to hear which archetypes Brenda was expected to conform to, to be considered a bona fide girl.

The actors, Vanja Maria Godée and Jeroen Van der Ven, are superb and have a great sense of pacing, gently drawing us into the story’s web. Stef Stessel’s clever set, with its huge collection of soft toys (used to great effect by the actors) continually reminds us that at the core of this drama is someone’s childhood.

Reimar’s story began in 1960s, and although with our advances in gender theory and medical practice this may all seem rather distant to us now, this is perhaps also a contemporary cautionary tale—one that, after all, embodies so many facets of Foucault’s concepts of power and the body. Boy does not answer any questions, but raises many important ones, ones that are still very relevant to us today.