Queer NARRATIVES FROM THE JAMAICAN STAGE at 10 WEEKS IN JAMAICA: Theatre Conversations from Jamaica to the World

10 WEEKS IN JAMAICA: Theatre Conversations from Jamaica to the World! is a series of lively weekly discussions with Jamaica's leading theatre artists exploring the histories and memories of-and future visions for-the Jamaican stage. Produced by Boston-based international theatre production company Akiba Abaka Arts, in partnership with Kingston-based talent agency and production company RAW Management, the series has been connecting Jamaican theatre artists with a global platform of theatre makers looking to gain new knowledge, share best practices around progressive theatre-making, and engage members of the greater Caribbean Diaspora longing for familiar stories of home.

"10 Weeks in Jamaica" weekly conversations stream live each Sunday at 4 PM through Jan.3, 2021 on the Akiba Abaka Arts YouTube page here. Previous episodes are available for on-demand viewing on the same site.

The next conversation on Sunday, DECEMBER 20 at 4 PM is Queer NARRATIVES FROM THE JAMAICAN STAGE and brings together a mix of theater practitioners, academicians and playwrights with Jamaican backgrounds including: Karl Williams, an award-winning actor, director and playwright who serves as Deputy Chair of the Speech, Communications and Theatre Arts Department at Borough of the Borough of Manhattan Community College/City University of New York; Webster McDonald (above, right), a Jamaican theatre practitioner and educator who is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Theater and Dance at the University of Kansas; and Simone Harris, a Maroon activist, queer dance artist and business consultant. The conversation is moderated by Jamaican-American theater entrepreneur, actress and director Akiba Abaka.

Abaka says she aims to create a space where the work, the writing and the inquiry of queer people in the Jamaican theater space is celebrated. "Rather than dictate how this discussion goes, as a moderator I want the panelists to carve out the conversations they want to have," Abaka says. "We've not seen queer Jamaicans talk about their Jamaican stories. I hope viewers take from this the vital theater work and the stories being told by these artists."

Other topics are likely to arise as well, Abaka says. Noting that she and two of the three guests currently live in America, Abaka is eager for the panel to explore issues of a Jamaican artistic life abroad - is it an expansion or an exile? By offering their stories and experiences, she hopes to show another side of Jamaica's caustic homophobia -- that the country is becoming more progressive about gay issues and artists. "In a country still reconciling its colonialist past, it doesn't help to leave any groups of people behind; that doesn't move the country forward," she says. "This is going to be a really good and relevant conversation across the Caribbean."