Rotterdam | Maaspodium
Sat 4 October, 20h00

Amsterdam | De Balie
Sun 5 October, 19h00

In this powerful theater- en dance performance, Tandile Mbatsha (x) takes us back to their childhood. As children in rural South Africa, they had to search for their identity and how to belong. Tandile Mbatsha stages both the theme of legacy and belonging by involving their biological father and mother in the performance. In one scene, the father shaves Mbatsha’s head before they perform a slippery solo on an oil-soaked floor, while their mother reminds the father how their child grew up in an atmosphere of both homophobia and protection. This makes I AM a powerful statement against transphobia and homophobia in Africa, which are visible through current statements that queerness would be un-African.

“The stories of queer people of colour have been erased. I AM is based on real events and thus a reconstruction of those stories,” Mbatsha said. “I AM is my attempt to remember myself through childhood memories.”