Tim Miller's solo show Glory Box is a funny, sexy and charged exploration of the playwright and performer’s journey through the challenges of love and marriage equality for gays, and the struggle for immigration rights for gay Americans and their partners from other countries.
The York University community has the opportunity to see this production on Thursday, Nov. 18 at 7pm in the Joseph G. Green Studio Theatre in the Centre for Film & Theatre. The free performance is co-presented by the Department of Theatre, Faculty of Fine Arts, and the Sexuality Studies Program in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.
Glory Box (the term that Australians use for "hope chest") conjures an alternative site for the placing of memories, hopes and dreams of gay people's potential for love. From Miller's hilarious grade school playground battles over wanting to marry another boy to the harrowing travails of being in a bi-national relationship with his Australian partner Alistair, the show leads the audience on a 
compelling trip into the complexities of the human heart.
Right: Tim Miller
“Tim Miller is an internationally acclaimed performance artist and one of the most important gay rights activists in North America,” said York theatre Professor Laura Levin. “He was one of the infamous NEA 4, a group of performance artists who successfully sued the US government for violation of their First Amendment rights after their work was de-funded because it was deemed indecent.
“This will be an amazing opportunity for York students, faculty and staff to engage with Tim's solo performance work and connect with him in a talk-back session afterwards,” Levin said. “His shows are transformative experiences for audience members. They’re instantly engaged by Tim's intimate performance style and implicated in timely questions about self and community. It’s an honour to host him at York.”
“Glory Box addresses questions of queer love, migration and the problem of national borders in humorous and heartfelt ways,” said sociology Professor Sheila Cavanagh, coordinator of York’s Sexuality Studies Program. “It’s an excellent example of the kind of creative work celebrated by our program.”
Through his work as a writer and performer, Tim Miller explores the artistic, spiritual and political topography of his identity as a gay man. He has tackled this challenge with both humour and passion in such pieces as Shirts & Skin (1997), US (2003), 1001 Beds (2006) and Lay of the Land (2009). His performances have been presented throughout North America, Australia and Europe in such venues as Yale Repertory Theatre, the Institute of Contemporary Art (London), the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He has taught at universities all over the US, including the University of California, Los Angeles; New York University; and the Claremont School of Theology, California.