Nkoli: A Fierce & Fabulous Life | THEATER DER WELT

In the organizer's words:

A colorful opera about a South African activist. Voguing, protest songs and archive material tell a story of politics, bodies and club culture.

Welcome to the grandest ball of all time! A presenter, a voguing rapper, takes to the stage. He is the host of the evening. The orchestra kicks in and a choir of 20 singers and dancers strides through a huge closet onto the ramp, accompanied by the pounding rhythm of a single drum. "We are here. We are queer!" they chant. Several video screens appear in the background of the stage while the presenter announces: "And the theme is: face your adversity!"
Developed by the South African composer Philip Miller, with texts by S'BO GYRE and Philip Miller, an opera was created under the direction of Greg Karvellas, whose fast-paced sequence of images deliberately defies clear categorization.
The hero of the story is Simon Nkoli. A black anti-apartheid activist who lived an openly gay life. Nkoli: A Fierce & Fabulous Life is not a biographical portrait, but a hybrid musical evening full of energy, joie de vivre and with a clear political message. Simon Nkoli, who was repeatedly exposed in the South African system, experienced marginalization, apartheid, homophobia and institutional violence. Like hundreds of thousands of others, he lived in constant danger.
Miller's composition combines opera singing with protest songs and club sounds with ballroom culture. Images, bodies, music and archive material stand side by side on an equal footing. The stage is full and loud, everything is in constant motion. Voguing, rap, lip-sync and orchestral elements overlap in constant agitation. The story unfolds fragmentarily, not chronologically. The ballroom, as a political space, is the projection surface for questions of belonging, visibility and resistance. Entertainment and seriousness are not opposites here, but inextricably linked. Nkoli's coming out is not a private matter, it becomes a public act in a repressive system. The show is open and permeable for a variety of musical and performative languages, for bodies and voices.

Location: Chemnitz Opera House
Introduction: 30 minutes before the start of each performance
Duration: 2 h 20 min
Information: In English, Zulu and Sotho with German and English surtitles

All further information at: https://www.theaterderwelt.de/programm/

A festival of the German Centre of the International Theatre Institute e.V.
Organized by Chemnitz Theatres, the Festival Academy Brussels and the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 GmbH.

Price information:

Tickets at: theaterderwelt.de/nkoli | 35% discount with festival pass. More information at: theaterderwelt.de/service/tickets