National Queer Theater presents Criminal Queerness Festival with a staged reading of Beginner’s Luck, Stargazer, and Waiting for Gordon by Jonathan Wamukota Opinya.

Across the globe, queer playwrights risk censorship, jail time, and physical danger simply by telling their truth. This Pride, you are invited to witness new plays from East African LGBTQIA+ writers fighting criminalization through their art. Now in its fourth year, National Queer Theater’s Criminal Queerness Festival (CQF) is an international theater festival created in partnership with NYC Pride. By presenting the work of international queer artists alongside activist talks and workshops, CQF aims to uplift the careers of these artists and raise awareness about criminalization. Kenya-based writer Jonathan Opinya highlights the painful intersections of private love and public violence between gay couples in these short works.