Arlington, We Love Arts

Interview with Playwright Beau Hopkins

Original Ugandan production of The River & The Mountain / Courtesy of Artisphere

Original Ugandan production of The River & The Mountain / Courtesy of Artisphere

British playwright Beau Hopkins wrote The River and the Mountain – the first Ugandan-produced play to deal with the theme of homosexuality. The controversial show, which premiered in Kampala in 2012, led to charges against and eventual deportation of producer David Cecil.

The River and the Mountain will make its US debut – and its first showing outside of Uganda – in a series of staged readings in the DC/Baltimore area, including a free staged reading this Saturday night at Artisphere. I recently spoke with Hopkins about the project and the current political climate in Uganda.

Joanna Castle Miller: Tell me a little about what led you to write this piece.

Beau Hopkins: I met (producer) David Cecil shortly after I arrived in Uganda in April of last year. And he introduced me to a theater company that suggested an interesting topic: the issue of homosexuality. It was something over which a blanket silence had descended that was politically motivated. And in their view, it was important to rupture that silence.

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Entertainment, The Daily Feed

Frank Warren Teams Up With Bluebrain For Artisphere Show

We love Frank Warren (the man behind PostSecret) and we love BlueBrain. This Saturday they are teaming up for a special show and fundraiser at Artisphere benefiting Hopeline. The shows are already sold out but we have two tickets for a lucky We Love DC reader, find out how you can enter to win below!

I’ve had the wonderful fortune to get to know Frank over the past few years and when I heard his PostSecret Tour was heading to Rosslyn’s Artisphere I thought it was a good opportunity to catch up with our old friend and see what’s in store for this weekend and what’s on the horizon for the PostSecret project.

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