Following a global call out that resulted in over 100 scripts being submitted, we are pleased to present 7 queer plays in translation or representing the wider English-speaking world that challenge, provoke and inspire.
In 2018, the Arcola Queer Collective will present its fourth annual season of theatre and performance. In 2017, we presented forgotten and rediscovered plays from queer theatre history, from Mae West’s effervescent The Drag, and a new re-imagining of Edouard Bourdet‘s La Prisonnière, to a series of plays from the activist queer theatre of the UK in the 1970s and 80s. For 2018, we wanted to discover and share how queer lives are depicted and lived – and how queer stories are told – in theatre around the world.
Presented as stage readings, directed and performed by Queer Collective members (and friends), these plays are timely reminders of not only the challenges still faced by queer people around the world but also the universal nature of love.
All readings will be followed by post-show discussions with panels of international playwrights, translators, directors and experts; exploring themes such as LGBTQ+ and the law; The Right to Write; and Translating Queerness.
Saturday 3rd March, 1pm
- Contempt by Danish Sheikh (India)
Queerness, class, and a colonial-era clause. As a lawyer battles for their rights and judges decide their fates, ordinary LGBTQ Indians tell their stories.
- 55 Shades of Gay by Jeton Neziraj (Kosovo), translated by Alexandra Channer
When the EU’s funding your town’s new condom factory, be braced for a sexual revolution. Even if your country’s constitution has already got it covered.
Saturday 3rd March, 5pm
- No Matter Where I Go by Amahl Khouri (Jordan)
Theory’s great if you’re into that sort of thing. But when these queer women step outside the safety of a seminar room, real life hits them all too quickly.
- Only the End of the World by Jean-Luc Lagarce (France), translated by Lucie Tiberghien
Louis travels home to break some news. Even in this more enlightened time, it’s not going to be easy. Why is it still so hard for us to talk about our lives?
Sunday 4th March, 1pm
- Taste of Love by Zhan Jie (Taiwan), translated by Jeremy Tiang
As Taiwan heralds east Asia’s first equal marriage law, one man struggles with prejudice in a still conservative culture. Can his relationship take the strain?
Sunday 4th March, 5pm
- Peace Camp Org by Mariam Bazeed (USA)
A happy-clappy peace camp in the US should be the perfect escape when your Egyptian family’s freaking out about your private life. Right?
- Winter Animals by Santiago Loza (Argentina), translated by Samuel Buggeln and Ariel Gurevitch
An ageing father visits his son who long since fled to the big city. There’s something unspoken in the room. And something unexpected in the fridge.
Winter Animals was translated and first produced in English by the Cherry Arts, Inc., Ithaca New York
Arcola Queer Collective’s rehearsed reading series Global Queer Plays is part of Creative/Disruption 18
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