The Theater of the World festival in Chemnitz runs through July 5, presenting a total of 33 works from every continent. In the middle of the program is the guest performance of the queer music theatre “Nkoli: A Fierce & Fabulous Life” by South African composer Philip Miller. The work had its world premiere in 2023 at Johannesburg’s Market Theatre and traveled to Chemnitz for two performances.
At the Chemnitz Opera House, a year after the European Capital of Culture buzz, audiences are unusually receptive. In several numbers, hands nod along; during the announced “men in thong” and other erotic accessories, there are whistles from all genders, cheerful squeaks, and enthusiastic applause. An evening in which the question of pot, lid, and drawer is settled, and the definition of sophistication versus dirty talk is suspended. “Nkoli: A Fierce & Fabulous Life” moves between performance, political ritual, and documentary condensation. The show is at once alluringly approachable and factually demanding.
Legend, Struggle, Pride, and Self-Confidence
The real hero, Simon Nkoli, is an idealist, an authentic self-advocate, and ultimately increasingly driven by his own fame. Engagement translates for Nkoli into burnout; politically instrumentalized sexuality runs wild. This drive fuels Miller’s composition, the wild and hymnic choreography, and the orchestra’s kinetic momentum. Political visibility means not only liberation but also constant pressure. Nkoli’s life resembles not his preferred author Danielle Steel, but the white, non-queer counterpart Marilyn Monroe. This is most evident in the scenes depicting conflicts within the queer movement, particularly Nkoli’s tension with lesbian activists.
Epic Musical Theater, Superb Ensemble
Musically, the production does not elevate itself as much as the performers and their performance do. Soul, rhythm, unison passages, choral densifications, and stylistic ruptures ride a steady line between internationally recognizable vocal traditions and contemporary trend-conscious conventions.
But it’s a pity that the cast for individual roles wasn’t named. Even more remarkable than the performer portraying Simon Nkoli was the drag MC—a striking figure with a glorious voice and expressive delivery. Simon’s partner remains as a character in the endearing background of the wallflower. The comrades-in-arms against apartheid become powerfully multi-dimensional figures. Video projections with documentary and virtual material flank the glittering roughness of the present.
Walls Between Ethnic and Sexual Identities
The hagiographic image under the punchy title “Nkoli: A Fierce & Fabulous Life” thus has porous edges and a wound in Simon Nkoli’s heart. For a whole series of scenes, the show explores Nkoli’s suffering, namely how he, as a gay man in the anti-apartheid movement, was not recognized and how his affirmative way of being was deemed “not African” and “imported from the Whites.” When in the second part LGBTI Pride is celebrated with sequins and lipstick, and then the collective HIV suffering arrives with new stigmatizations for the characters, the show reveals social consequences of behavior that can easily transfer from queer emancipation to other forms of exclusion.
Composition, Concept: Philip Miller – Lyrics: S’bo Gyre, Philip Miller – Direction: Greg Karvellas – Choreography: Llewellyn Mnguni – Producer: Harriet Perlman, Philip Miller – Costumes: Sikelela Mr Allofit, Birrie Roux – Musical Direction: Tshegofatso Moeng – Sound Design: Fried Wilsenach – Lighting Design: Oliver Hauser – Video Designer: Catherine Meyburgh – Motion Graphics: Marcos Martins – Technical Director: Michael Inglis – Stage Manager: Hayleigh Evans – Video Projectionist: Kimon Pienaar – Singers: Simbone Qonya, Ann Masina, Luthando Madikizela, Nokuthula Magubane, S’bo Gyre, Grant Towers, Leah Gunter, Mhlaba Buthelezi, Monde Masimini, Simphiwe Simelane, Cindy Manciya, Zolina Ngejane, Ayanda Eleki, Eric Van Rooyen – Dancers: Tshepo Zasekhaya, Tylor Spelman, Lebohang Otukile – Musicians: Daphne Rudolph, Kenny Williams, Siyolise Nyondo, Justin Sasman, Ashlin Grobbelaar, Tsholofelo Tshikare
