No Easter Sunday

Award winning script No Easter Sunday For Queers to make its debut at the Market Theatre

Koleka Putuma’s script was the overall winning play that was selected to be produced and staged as part of the Distell National Playwright Competition. She becomes the second winner of this new competition that aims at showcasing fresh storytellers and new voices. The competition is for debut playwrights who have not yet had their work staged.

Koleka is an award – winning poet, playwright and theatre director. Her bestselling debut collection of poems Collective Amnesia took the South African literary scene by storm since its publication in April 2017. This ground-breaking new voice of poetry was recently appointed as creative director for the 2019 Design Indaba Conference.

No Easter Sunday For Queers follows the love story of Napo and Mimi. The lovers, through the Easter Sunday sermon, return on the anniversary of their death to make the Father reckon with the present and the past and a crucifixion he must account for. The alter is a cross and the subconscious a court room where the dead seek justice for a sin committed by their perpetrators. The protagonists cannot tell the past from the present and scripture from the truth. Every year, on Easter Sunday the church is made to remember.

When a young woman’s place of hope and space of worship becomes the very place that will shackle and stifle her life and beliefs. When a father’s love turns into hatred for a daughter that needs love and support. When a father and daughter relationship become the breeding ground for anger and hatred that ultimately leads to tragic end.

The audiences are drawn into this deep and poetic story of young people who are punished for their love and life. These young women want to be accepted by their families and community. The church and family are meant to be safe heaven where people can be themselves and who they want to be freely without any judgement. These are just young women who want to be accepted and loved and not endure constant badgering and verbal abuse.

Their murders should not just be another statistic a catalyst for change and effective interventions to protect people to live their lives in a free environment.

No Easter Sunday For Queers will premier at the Market Theatre for a limited season 20 – 25 August at the Mannie Manim directed by Zambian born Mwenya Kabwe will take the who will take the reins with this poignant story that promises to bear some hard-hitting punches. Mwenya has added numerous dimension to the production that will excite the audiences with the inclusion of 21 chorus members who are the Market Theatre Laboratory current second year students, The technology in this piece is so advanced that it will come alive and be part of the audience as the speakers will be placed under every audience members chair so they can feel part of the performance.

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