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I Stand Corrected

I Stand Corrected is a PaR theatre production (made in collaboration with South African dancer/choreographer Mamela Nyamza) which involved community workshops and critical writing. The project investigates, creates and evaluates new ways of challenging homophobia in South Africa and the African Diaspora in Britain, re-presenting black lesbians and forming spaces for black queer togetherness. The play debates the issue of so-called ‘corrective rape’, that is, the rape and murder of black lesbian women in an attempt to force them to be heterosexual. It was developed through workshops with members of the black lesbian community of Cape Town, South Africa.

I Stand Corrected was performed at Artscape Theatre in Cape Town in August 2012, Ovalhouse Theatre in London in November and December 2012 and at the Soweto Theatre in March 2013. The production was presented with participatory workshops, photographic exhibitions by Zanele Muholi, post-show discussions and academic presentations at various universities including Queen Mary and Goldsmiths University of London, Rose Bruford College, University of East London and University of Cape Town.

The research is grounded in black feminist theory (bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Helen Oyewunmi) and black / queer studies (E. Patrick Johnson, Delroy Constantine Simms and Jose Esteban Muñoz). The performance aesthetic is informed by women artists of colour such as Ntozake Shange, debbie tucker greene and SuAndi. It draws on the applied theatre theories and techniques of Augusto Boal, James Thompson, Petra Kuppers and Jan Cohen-Cruz. The research fills a significant gap in knowledge by synergizing black feminist and queer theory, performance making and applied theatre. The work cultivates new academic terrain in black queer performance studies, a hitherto underexplored area. It culminates in a new Critical Anthology of Black Queer Performance (including I Stand Corrected) to be published by Oberon (2014) co-edited by myself and Dr Lynette Goddard.