Difference between revisions of "Your Loving Simon"
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| − | A biographical portrait of [[Simon Nkoli]] (1957-1998), freedom fighter, political prisoner, human rights and gay activist. | + | A biographical portrait of [[Simon Nkoli]] (1957-1998), freedom fighter, political prisoner, human rights and gay activist. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Nkoli |
A powerful factual account of the life of gay rights activist and political prisoner Tseko Simon Nkoli (1957-1998), who died of an AIDS-related illness at 40. Inspired by the GALA collection of letters Nkoli had written from prison to his lover “Roy”, [[Robert Colman]] workshopped, wrote and directed the two-hander. It explores Nkoli’s life, first as an oft-imprisoned student activist, then as one of the famous 22 Delmas treason trialists (the notorious trial that lasted from 1985 to 1988) and also as co-founder of GLOW (Gays & Lesbians of the Witwatersrand) in 1988. The main focus of the play is on the tension between Nkoli’s dual roles as an anti-apartheid political activist, on the one hand, and as a black gay man who found out in prison that he was HIV positive, on the other. The playwright explained the seminal moment of the piece in an interview: “While he (Nkoli) was in prison as a treason trialist, a scandal emerged that one of the political prisoners had sex with another prisoner and that incident led Simon to come out to all his comrades. That is the story of the play. ... He was an icon in his lifetime. And if he was an icon for me, he was a thousand times that for gays and lesbians from the townships” (Sichel, 2003a). The play celebrated the life first of a freedom fighter, but also the life of a gay man subsequently standing for his right to liberty and freedom of choice and association. In passionately focusing on one aspect of life in the new democracy and specifically the place of black homosexual men and women, the play powerfully illustrated the diverse multi-faceted themes explored in new South Africa theatre that replaced the anti-apartheid struggle as a prominent central theme. Lauding the trend, Robert Greig commented in a review of ''[[Your Loving Simon]]'', “It is implied that the central, monolithic struggle has in fact shattered into as many different campaigns and quests as there are people and groups: the environment, economic imbalances, gender inequality... In other words democracy is working” (Greig, 2003a). [Van Heerden (2008)][http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.sun.ac.za%2Fbitstream%2Fhandle%2F10019.1%2F1443%2Fvanheerden_theatre_2008.pdf%3Fsequence%3D1&ei=_egBU77CNYWJhQeE5oCADQ&usg=AFQjCNEWnD1BzeLnFmOV2tvyGLoMyNeT6Q&bvm=bv.61535280,d.Yms]. p. 176. | A powerful factual account of the life of gay rights activist and political prisoner Tseko Simon Nkoli (1957-1998), who died of an AIDS-related illness at 40. Inspired by the GALA collection of letters Nkoli had written from prison to his lover “Roy”, [[Robert Colman]] workshopped, wrote and directed the two-hander. It explores Nkoli’s life, first as an oft-imprisoned student activist, then as one of the famous 22 Delmas treason trialists (the notorious trial that lasted from 1985 to 1988) and also as co-founder of GLOW (Gays & Lesbians of the Witwatersrand) in 1988. The main focus of the play is on the tension between Nkoli’s dual roles as an anti-apartheid political activist, on the one hand, and as a black gay man who found out in prison that he was HIV positive, on the other. The playwright explained the seminal moment of the piece in an interview: “While he (Nkoli) was in prison as a treason trialist, a scandal emerged that one of the political prisoners had sex with another prisoner and that incident led Simon to come out to all his comrades. That is the story of the play. ... He was an icon in his lifetime. And if he was an icon for me, he was a thousand times that for gays and lesbians from the townships” (Sichel, 2003a). The play celebrated the life first of a freedom fighter, but also the life of a gay man subsequently standing for his right to liberty and freedom of choice and association. In passionately focusing on one aspect of life in the new democracy and specifically the place of black homosexual men and women, the play powerfully illustrated the diverse multi-faceted themes explored in new South Africa theatre that replaced the anti-apartheid struggle as a prominent central theme. Lauding the trend, Robert Greig commented in a review of ''[[Your Loving Simon]]'', “It is implied that the central, monolithic struggle has in fact shattered into as many different campaigns and quests as there are people and groups: the environment, economic imbalances, gender inequality... In other words democracy is working” (Greig, 2003a). [Van Heerden (2008)][http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.sun.ac.za%2Fbitstream%2Fhandle%2F10019.1%2F1443%2Fvanheerden_theatre_2008.pdf%3Fsequence%3D1&ei=_egBU77CNYWJhQeE5oCADQ&usg=AFQjCNEWnD1BzeLnFmOV2tvyGLoMyNeT6Q&bvm=bv.61535280,d.Yms]. p. 176. | ||
Revision as of 12:25, 3 March 2014
Two-man play workshopped and directed by Robert Colman (2003). Published in S.A. Gay Plays 2: an anthology of plays 1994–2013 compiled by Robin Malan (2013).
Contents
Subject
A biographical portrait of Simon Nkoli (1957-1998), freedom fighter, political prisoner, human rights and gay activist. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Nkoli
A powerful factual account of the life of gay rights activist and political prisoner Tseko Simon Nkoli (1957-1998), who died of an AIDS-related illness at 40. Inspired by the GALA collection of letters Nkoli had written from prison to his lover “Roy”, Robert Colman workshopped, wrote and directed the two-hander. It explores Nkoli’s life, first as an oft-imprisoned student activist, then as one of the famous 22 Delmas treason trialists (the notorious trial that lasted from 1985 to 1988) and also as co-founder of GLOW (Gays & Lesbians of the Witwatersrand) in 1988. The main focus of the play is on the tension between Nkoli’s dual roles as an anti-apartheid political activist, on the one hand, and as a black gay man who found out in prison that he was HIV positive, on the other. The playwright explained the seminal moment of the piece in an interview: “While he (Nkoli) was in prison as a treason trialist, a scandal emerged that one of the political prisoners had sex with another prisoner and that incident led Simon to come out to all his comrades. That is the story of the play. ... He was an icon in his lifetime. And if he was an icon for me, he was a thousand times that for gays and lesbians from the townships” (Sichel, 2003a). The play celebrated the life first of a freedom fighter, but also the life of a gay man subsequently standing for his right to liberty and freedom of choice and association. In passionately focusing on one aspect of life in the new democracy and specifically the place of black homosexual men and women, the play powerfully illustrated the diverse multi-faceted themes explored in new South Africa theatre that replaced the anti-apartheid struggle as a prominent central theme. Lauding the trend, Robert Greig commented in a review of Your Loving Simon, “It is implied that the central, monolithic struggle has in fact shattered into as many different campaigns and quests as there are people and groups: the environment, economic imbalances, gender inequality... In other words democracy is working” (Greig, 2003a). [Van Heerden (2008)][1]. p. 176.
Performance history in South Africa
First performed at The Market Theatre in April 2003, directed by Robert Colman, with Fourie Nyamande as Simon Nkoli and Bheki Vilakazi as Madoda Mvelazi .
Translations and adaptations
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Nkoli
[Van Heerden (2008)][2].
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