Mail & Guardian Reporters
This year’s Lesbian and Gay Pride event in Johannesburg will boast a greatly expanded cultural line-up, including poetry readings, theatrical performances and cabaret, in the lead-up to the parade itself on September 29.
There are two aspects to this: lesbian and gay culture itself and lesbian and gay contributions to the broader culture.
On September 23 a celebration of gay spirituality will take place at the Yeoville Recreation Centre at 2.30pm. On the same day, on Classic FM gender ambiguity in opera will be the subject of discussion from 9pm to 11pm. That evening there will be a pre-Pride fundraiser at Braamfontein’s Heartland collection of clubs and bars.
On September 24 tribute will be paid to the late gay campaigner Simon Nkoli at Simon Nkoli Corner, Pretoria Street, Hillbrow, from noon. The gravestone of famous dragster Granny Lee will be unveiled in Westpark Cemetery, Emmarentia, at 2pm, and the Pride exhibition of art will open at the Windybrow Theatre in Hillbrow at 6.30pm.
A poetry reading and open mic workshop takes place at the same venue from 7pm (and will do so every evening until Friday) and the play He Died Smiling starts at 8pm. At the same time, singers Andr Schwartz, Elsab Zietsman and Lisa Stassen perform at the Showcase Theatre, Randburg (where they will perform the following evening as well).
A drumming circle will form at the Windybrow on September 25 from 8pm.
The play Cock Tales (about the darker corners of urban gay life) plays at the Windybrow from 8pm on September 26 and on the following day the stage will be taken by Community Workshop Drama Projects at 8pm. That same evening the movie Iron Ladies, a true story about a gay and transsexual volleyball team that rises to the top in Thailand (this is the second most successful Thai film ever), will show at Cinema Nouveau, Rosebank, at 8pm.
September 28 sees the usual poetry reading at 7pm at the Windybrow, followed at 8pm by a variety night with performance art, dance, song, rap, cabaret and a choral performance.
That night there will be a ”Pre-Pride OutAfrica Party” at the Skyline Bar, Simon Nkoli Corner, Pretoria Street, Hillbrow.
And then it’s time for the parade itself! Gather at the Civic Centre, Braamfontein, from 11am on September 29.
There will be entertainment and speeches from 11am until the parade begins at 1pm. It should last until 3.30pm or so, after which you can choose to picnic on the lawns outside the Civic Theatre (it is a public space) or move on to one of the parties being organised by Johannesburg’s gay clubs and bars from 4pm that afternoon. Later that evening the clubs and bars will throb with a variety of after-parties.
The details
For further information, please contact Daniel on (011) 4873810, or [email protected] or check out the website, www.sapride.org.