The authorities in Uganda have charged a British theatre producer, David Cecil, for staging a play about the condition of gay people in the country. David Cecil faces criminal charges that could lead to a two-year prison sentence.
The play tittle The River and The Mountain, written by British playwright Beau Hopkins was cancelled at the last minute at the National Theatre in Kampala
The Associated Press reports:
David Cecil appeared in court Thursday charged with “disobeying lawful orders” from the Uganda Media Council, which says he staged “The River and the Mountain” in Uganda’s capital last month despite orders to the contrary.
Cecil’s lawyer, Francis Onyango, said his client was not released on bail because his passport, wanted by the magistrate, had been confiscated by the police.
Cecil told The Associated Press that the play, whose main character is a gay businessman who finally gets killed by his own employees, was performed eight times at little-known theaters in Kampala last month. The play, a first for Uganda, was praised by gay rights activists who said it was “revolutionary” in the way it provoked an examination of common thinking about gays. But the play failed to make it to Uganda’s national theater, where producers rejected the scrip.
Read the full article via ABC NEWS
