A group of queer Wellington students are hitting the stage next week with their production ‘That’s So Gay’. The show opens at BATS Theatre on Thursday 26 April and runs till Saturday 28 April, and plays at 6.30PM nightly. It‘s a culmination of true lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, straight and transgender stories that reflect the lives of Wellington youth today, gathered, devised, and performed by them. Directed by Toni Regan, who is completing her Master of Theatre Arts in Directing at Toi Whakaari, it began as an idea inspired by Anny da Silva Freitas. A counsellor, youth and community worker, Da Silva Freitas was tired of hearing the pejorative use of the phrase “that’s so gay” in everyday language. She wants to challenge this put down: “Being gay is not dumb or stupid, it’s who I am and there are many like me that share the same view,” she says. From this idea, Regan and da Silva Freitas began a project that has developed into a collaborative community theatre production with School’s Out, Wellington. A group of Toi Whakaari students and 13 young people from School’s Out (aged 16 to 26) have devised the play, which is made up of ‘moments’ created from stories about the young people’s experiences.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 19th April 2012 - 3:59pm