SAFE: A World Premiere

The Queer Theatre Kalamazoo (QTK) 2016season opens with a World Premiere play SAFE by Donna Hoke, co­produced by the Black Arts & Cultural  Center’s Face Off Theatre Company (FOTC).

Production Synopsis: In 1986, Nancy is a sheltered high school girl unable to stand up to her overprotective father, or the bullies who torment her and her best friend. Twenty­five years later, married to a controlling husband, Nancy finds she’s raised a bully herself. Faced with tragic consequences for her inaction, Nancy struggles to break the cycle of intolerance that haunts her. Award­winning playwright Donna Hoke’s new play is a gripping study of community, culpability, and courage.

SAFE is a powerful piece about the multi­generational pervasiveness of homophobia told from the point of view of a woman whose past mistakes with a gay friend come back to haunt her decades later when she encounters similar prejudices and circumstances. The narrative presents a gripping puzzle that slowly reveals itself as the weight of her memories andregrets bear down on her. Eternally topical yet intimately personal, SAFE reminds us that bigotry and abuse can still hide within the most outwardly friendly people.