Two-Night Only Performance of 'A Missionary Position' About State of Gay Rights in Uganda
Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine: A Missionary Position
A Revealing Look Into Gay Population's Struggle with Civil Rights in Uganda
Coming to the CAC July 19 & 20, straight from its premier in LA, “A Missionary Position” is a one-man show by Ugandan-American artist Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine. The show layers documentary material such as raw video footage and still photography—gathered over recent months on the front lines of the African nation’s LGBT movement—with Mwine’s portrayal of riveting figures such as a Ugandan government official, a transgender sex worker, a gay priest, and a lesbian activist. It is both a searing response to the rampant homophobia now gripping Uganda as well as a revealing look into the burgeoning resistance to that state-supported oppression of openly gay citizens.
- Watch the trailer on vimeo
- BBC World Service feature on premier of “A Missionary Position”
- “Mwine is wired, vivid and insistent… a strong addition to the margins of the burgeoning documentary theatre genre” –Timeout London
- "Mwine's superbly understated performances prove that the simplest elements of the theater are quite enough to capture an epic narrative and put forth a passionate, and political, plea for help.” –Variety
About Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine
A first-generation Ugandan-American with personal relationships and ties to Uganda, Mwine is no stranger to diving into the profound and sometimes violent forces currently at work in Uganda to create powerful works of theater that share its citizen's vital stories with audiences around the world. Throughout the past year he has been engrossed in on-the-ground research and documentation in Uganda. Interviewing and meeting with leading figures on many sides of the issue over recent months, he has gathered and shot video footage and still photographs from the front lines of the African nation's LGBT movement. A Missionary Position takes this footage and these stories and shares the experiences of real people in Uganda, fighting for freedom and fighting for their lives.
Mwine works in the mediums of photography, theatre, film, and television. TV credits include recurring roles on HBO’s series "Treme," "Heroes," "The Riches," "ER" and "CSI;" and the feature films Blood Diamond and 40. Theatre acting credits include leading roles at The Public Theater, The Steppenwolf Theatre, The Kennedy Center, The Lincoln Center and Center Theatre Group; Playwriting credits include Biro, which held premieres in Uganda, London, Toronto, Los Angeles, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Seattle, Zimbabwe, and The Public Theatre in New York where it made the New York Times Critics Pick List.
Mwine's photographic work has featured in Vanity Fair and exhibited at Blue Sky Gallery, The United Nations, Rush Arts Gallery, the UCLA Fowler Museum, The Latino Art Museum, and has been featured on HBO's "Six Feet Under." Mwine received his MFA in Acting from New York University and completed studies at The Moscow Arts Theatre in Russia, The Royal National Theatre in London and The University of Virginia. He has taught at the University of Southern California, Yale University, and has taught theatre and film artists in more than a dozen countries in Africa.
This performance is funded by a grant from The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation
Scott E. Knox, Attorney at Law
Peter Quinnan & Mark Boire