This week, GBH Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen discusses a new exhibit depicting South Africa's LGBTQIA+ community and two new shows hitting the Boston stage.
Being Muholi: Portraits as Resistance
On view at the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum through May 8, 2022
Visual activist and South African native, Sir Zanele Muholi, documents their country's LBGTQIA+ community. Unlike most artists, Muholi's work is rooted in collaboration, with an emphasis on telling their participants' stories. "Muholi has taken it upon themselves to document the lives and the images and the pride and the joy of LGBTQIA+ people. And so we see this photography come to the fore with a lot of joy, actually, as these identities are acknowledged and shared at the Gardner Museum," Bowen said.
While South Africa was the first country to forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation, there are still high rates of violence against Black LGBTQIA+ people. By telling their stories, Muholi seeks to uplift their community.
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Now Playing at Emerson Colonial Theatre through Mar. 6, 2022
"Summer: The Donna Summer Musical" celebrates the Mission Hill native. Donna Summer is played by three actresses each depicting her at different points in her life: Diva Donna, Disco Donna and Duckling Donna.
The musical does avoid the violent moments of Summer's life, but Bowen says the exuberant tone of the show is a welcome departure from current events. "We're just in this really tough moment, so I think to be able to come together still fully safe, masked, and they are still requiring vaccination proof of vaccination at theaters... But there was just, there was an energy in the crowd," Bowen said.
People, Places, & Things
Now playing at the Calderwood Pavilion through Mar. 5, 2022
The Speakeasy Stage Company's "People, Places & Things" takes us into the life of Emma, played by Marianna Bassham, an actress who is suffering from addiction and finds herself in rehab. "We're taken into her life and she's somebody who is incredibly smart and incredibly intellectual. She recognizes how she uses acting to get through life. She understands how she uses substances to get through life, to get through what she describes as the ambiguous morality of life," said Bowen.
"And of course, acting allows her to escape that to a different kind of truth," he continued. "She thinks she is smarter than everybody and in rehab, and in some instances you realize that she probably is. So for that reason, we have this more intellectual look at what she's struggling with, this existential look, and it makes it incredibly powerful."
You won't want to miss this show, as Jared states: "It's one of the strongest productions I've seen this year, by the way, people should absolutely get their tickets and go."
