Afro-Caribbean queer playwright Estelle Chout will star in her play “Po’ Boys and Oysters” at Auckland’s Basement Theatre in New Zealand this February.
The show will run in Basement Theatre between February 22 and March 5, with required vaccination and an audience cap at 100 attendees—according to New Zealand news outlet Stuff.
The play follows Flo (Chout) and Jo (Sonya Renee Taylor) as the queer couple announces that they are adopting a kid to Flo’s close-minded sister Marie (Sandra Zvenyika). Although the play deals with serious issues like the arduous adoption process for queer people in New Zealand and navigating relationships with conservative family members, “Po’ Boys and Oysters” focuses on positivity.
“I think that this piece is so important because so often Black theater, Black art is about Black tragedy,” said Sonya Renee Taylor, New York Times best-selling author and actor in the play, in a Black Creatives Aotearoa Instagram post. “And this show is about Black joy and about Black hilarity. And I think the world needs way more Black joy.”
Founded four years ago, Black Creatives Aotearoa (BCA) boasts 600 artists of many disciplines, from poetry and playwriting to music and doll-making. Founder Dione Joseph is directing ‘Po’ Boys and Oysters,’ the New Zealand-based collective’s first theatrical production.
The play was slated to premiere at Auckland Pride Festival, but a cluster of coronavirus cases caused the event to be canceled.
A native of the Caribbean island of Martinique, Chout relocated to New Zealand after living in London. In Auckland’s Howick Little Theatre, she found her passion for acting and continues to polish her skill at Kacie Stetson Studio.
The play is partially based on the flourishing playwright’s life, Stuff reports. Chout is a mother of two. Although she and her former partner ultimately chose not to have kids through adoption, the pair considered it.
For Chout, bringing Black queer experiences to stage is essential.
“I rarely see someone like myself – a proud Black queer mother – represented on the stage,” said Estelle, according to BCA’ website. “I wrote ‘Po’ Boys and Oysters’ to give these characters a voice and provide a platform to a group that have rarely been seen or represented in our theatre.”
