JUST ME, YOU AND THE SILENCE by Adong Lucy Judith, directed by Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu, with Jim Codrington, Karen Robinson, Tawiah Ben-Eben M’carthy, Araya Mengesha, Dienye Waboso, Cara Ricketts, Walter Borden, Jeremiah Sparks and Peter Bailey. Presented by IFT Theatre, WorldPride, Obsidian Theatre and Buddies in Bad Times (12 Alexander). Sunday (June 22) at 7 pm, VIP reception 5 pm. $10 advance, pwyc at the door, VIP reception $60 (includes show). 416-975-8555.
When director Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu read Ugandan playwright Adong Lucy Judith’s Just Me, You And The Silence a few years ago, she saw it as an extraordinary opportunity to have nine black actors onstage talking about gay rights in an African context.
Developed at London’s Royal Court Theatre in 2011, the play followed closely on the Ugandan government’s attempt to pass an anti-homosexuality law that punished those convicted with hanging.
“The play offers a chance to look at the government’s actions and the various viewpoints from a Ugandan perspective,” offers the director, “but it’s also an exciting opportunity to examine queer material that’s taboo within much of the Toronto’s black community.”
Just Me is being staged as a reading by Otu’s IFT Theatre in collaboration with Buddies in Bad Times and Obsidian as part of Buddies’ WorldPride celebration. Box office proceeds go to FARUG (Freedom and Roam Uganda), an LGBT charity serving the Ugandan community.
At its centre is fictional politician Jacob Obina, who introduces an anti-gay bill with the thought of advancing his own career. His wife, Grace, has similar thoughts of political and social advancement, but neither of their sons, Mathias and Gideon, is behind Obina’s actions.
As it turns out, the proposed bill has far-reaching consequences not only in the community but also within Obina’s household.
“I see the play as a family drama with a touch of satire,” smiles Otu, “a chance to peek into the personal life of a politician who doesn’t know the ramifications of what he starts. Usually we can only imagine the private side of a political life here we see it played out.”
A secondary plot line involves a gay love story between two of the activists fighting Obina’s bill.
“That introduces another important theme – that those opposed to gay relationships or even what Obina and his followers call ‘gayism’ always focus on the Other,” says Otu. “There’s rarely a thought that the topic could hit close to home.”
The play is set in 2009, just after the actual bill was first introduced. Since then, punishment has been reduced to imprisonment, either for a specific period or life – hardly something to celebrate. In January of this year, the president of Nigeria signed a similar anti-gay law.
“The stakes were higher then, the importance of the original bill still divisive in the country.”
But one reason for the Toronto reading is to look at the nation’s attitude toward homosexuality from an artistic rather than a specifically political angle.
“So much of the debate is entered through the political headlines that saturate the media,” says the director. “I want audiences to see the humanity behind the characters. Human rights are often discussed in the political arena, but activism can also be motivated through art.”
After the performance, the discussion continues with a panel chaired by d’bi.young anitafrika and featuring the playwright as well as gay Kenyan author Binyavanga Wainaina. His play Shine Your Eye, which has a lesbian subplot, was part of The Africa Trilogy and Another Africa, staged in Toronto several years ago.
Wainaina is also the guest at a VIP reception before the performance, in which he reads from his memoir. The funder for IFT Theatre includes entertainment and reserved seats for the performance.
jonkap@nowtoronto.com
