National Queer Theater is an innovative theater collective dedicated to celebrating the brilliance of generations of LGBTQ artists and providing a home for unheard storytellers and activists. By serving our elders, youth, and working professionals, NQT creates a more just future through radical and evocative theater experiences and free community classes.
As the official theater partner of NYC Pride, National Queer Theater is proud to present the fourth annual Criminal Queerness Festival. By presenting the work of international queer artists alongside activist talks, this international theater festival uplifts queer and trans stories from around the world and raises awareness about criminalization.
This PRIDE you are invited to witness new plays from three East African LGBTQIA+ WRITERS fighting criminalization through their art
TUESDAY, JUNE 21st at 7:30pm COURAGE REBIRTH
TUESDAY, JUNE 21st at 7:30pm COURAGE REBIRTHBY MULEME STEVEN
A STAGED READING
DIRECTED BY ANN C. JAMES
When lesbian singer Fawzia is displaced by political unrest in her home country of Somalia, she finds asylum and an audience for her songs of hope at a refugee camp in Kenya. There, she garners the support and friendship of LGBT Rights activist David Kato, who helps her get to Uganda. When one of her songs goes viral, she is forced to navigate her newfound attention under violent circumstances.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22nd at 7:30pm
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22nd at 7:30pmTHREE SHORT PLAYS
BY JONATHAN OPINYA WAMUKOTA
STAGED READINGS
DIRECTED BY RAZ GOLDEN
A compassionate confrontation with death. A blossoming love squashed by hatred. A star-crossed romance torn apart by secrets. In three short plays, Stargazer, Beginner’s Luck, and Waiting for Gordon, Jonathan Opinya Wamukota of Kenya uses his poetic style to craft a picture of the realities of queer love in a society that punishes same-sex romance.
FRIDAY, JUNE 24th at 7:30pm
FRIDAY, JUNE 24th at 7:30pmTHE SURVIVAL
BY ACHIRO P. OLWOCH
DIRECTED BY JACOB BASRI
Achan, feeling the pressure of being unmarried at 27, falls for Oyat after meeting him at a bar. Unbeknownst to Achan, Oyat is hoping she will be a surrogate for him and his boyfriend’s child. When Achan learns the truth from Oyat’s boyfriend, John, she must confront her own traditional upbringing to find love and new notions of family in modern Uganda.
The Criminal Queerness Festival is back at Lincoln Center and will take place in the David Rubenstein Atrium as part of the Summer for the City LGBTQIA+ Pride celebration! This event is FREE and open to the public. Seating and entry are first-come, first-served; the line will form at the Atrium’s entrance on Broadway, between 62nd and 63rd Street. The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center is located at 61 W 62nd St, New York, NY 10023.
