{{For the first time, a theatre play on homosexuality is being staged in Uganda, a country which has proposed an Anti-Homosexuality Bill. With The River & the Mountain, the actors hope to make their audience reflect. }} <\/p>\n
\u201cIn Ugandan society, we hide so many things. Why not talk about it?\u201d, says one of the actors.<\/p>\n
28-year-old award-winning actor Okuyo Joel Atiku Prynce is the first-ever actor to play a homosexual on stage in Uganda. He has already received numerous criticisms about his latest move in his career, among others being accused of \u201cbeing funded by gay lobby groups.\u201d <\/p>\n
But that does not deter him. \u201cI am not into gay advocacy. Although with this play, we do want to make people understand that we are all human,\u201d he says. \u201cWe should not judge, segregate, harm or kill others.\u201d<\/p>\n
{{Condemnation}}<\/p>\n
Uganda is a country where gays and same-sex relationships are far from being accepted and are regularly condemned by conservative pastors and politicians.<\/p>\n
The River & the Mountain premiered on 18 August in a little-known cultural centre in Kampala called Tilapia and runs until Sunday 26. It is a collaboration between a group of local actors, Oxford-educated poet, Beau Hopkins, who wrote the script, and Tilapia manager, David Cecil. <\/p>\n
The play will \u201chopefully get people to talk about homosexuality, which already helps to reduce the stigma,\u201d says Phiona Katushabe (24), one of the originators.<\/p>\n
{{Avoiding ideology}}<\/p>\n
However, it has not created the sort of public stir that may have been expected given its controversial subject. Those involved in the play believe it is partially because it has deliberately been kept low-key. <\/p>\n
Not out of fear for repercussions but \u201cto avoid being dragged into the ideological debate with, on one side, Uganda\u2019s vocal pastors and, on the other, the international liberal human rights organizations,\u201d says Katushabe. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll we want is our audience to make up its own mind.\u201d
\nBut, apparently, it did cause a sense of uneasiness at the National Theatre, Kampala\u2019s main venue. At the last minute, the Theatre backed away from hosting the play, after having agreed earlier to do so. The actors were told a \u201cclearance\u201d from Uganda\u2019s Media Council was not issued. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe refusal of National Theatre only motivated me further,\u201dsays Rehema Nanfuka (26), a well-known actress and radio-presenter who is in the cast.<\/p>\n
{{Challenging beliefs}}<\/p>\n
The River & the Mountain revolves around Samson (played by Prynce), a young man who is focused on his career in a cooking oil factory, much to the despair of his mother. All she wants for him is a suitable wife. <\/p>\n
Samson is forced to \u2018cure\u2019 himself of his homosexuality by undergoing treatment with a pastor, a witch-doctor and a Ssenga – a \u2018sex-aunt\u2019 who, in traditional Buganda-culture, initiates young girls. All attempts fail because Samson says that being homosexual is \u201chow I was born.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the end, after having had his coming-out, Samson is killed by his own factory workers with machetes. But it is his girlfriend Aidah (played by Aidah Nalubowa) who brings hope to the story because she accepts Samson\u2019s the way he is. <\/p>\n
Aidah represents the \u2018river\u2019 which stands for openness, for being connected to the open seas that historically brought new influences. The \u2018mountain\u2019 symbolizes secluded, withdrawn people, scared of the unknown.<\/p>\n
{{Understanding}}<\/p>\n
Katushabe: \u201cSome of my anti-gay friends who have seen the play now show more understanding.\u201d Nanfuka says the same goes for her. \u201cI never had any problem with gay people but I used to ask myself why they should feel the need to come out. Now, I feel they should. In Ugandan society, we hide so many things. Why not talk about it?\u201d<\/p>\n
The River & the Mountain is attracting several dozens of spectators every evening, including many Western expatriates. The good thing is that so far, only two members of the public have walked out of the performance. <\/p>\n
The first one, an anti-gay and the second a pro-gay. The latter was apparently too affected by Samson\u2019s fate.<\/p>\n
The last two performances, this weekend, will be at MishMash, an uptown cultural venue mainly visited by expatriates. Are the organizers not afraid they will give conservative Ugandans one more reason to believe that gay people are \u2018stooges\u2019 of ultra-liberal Westerners with a secret \u2018gay-agenda\u2019?\u201d Prynce\u2019s response: \u201cThat argument is being used against us anyway. I am not afraid. This play will help change Ugandan society.\u201d<\/p>\n
{Picture: RNW}
\n{{RNW Africa}}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{{For the first time, a theatre play on homosexuality is being staged in Uganda, a country which has proposed an Anti-Homosexuality Bill. With The River & the Mountain, the actors hope to make their audience reflect. }} \u201cIn Ugandan society, we hide so many things. Why not talk about it?\u201d, says one of the actors. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-culture","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2965\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2965"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2965"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}