Doris Allimadi's new play Black & Queer is on at South Street on Saturday 31 October at 2.45pm: 50 minutes, ages 13+, tickets £13.50, for Black History Month.

A new play about two young Nigerian women whose secret relationship is discovered by their mothers comes to South Street in Reading on Saturday 31 October. Black & Queer, written and directed by the Reading-based playwright Doris Allimadi, starts at 2.45pm, runs for about 50 minutes and is suitable for ages 13 and over. The remaining tickets are £13.50.

The performance falls on the last day of Black History Month, and Allimadi describes it as a love story that is about much more than the love story.

The story

Abiola has grown up in a strict Christian household. She falls in love with Favour, her childhood best friend, who is also Nigerian and is a pastor’s daughter. The two keep their relationship secret until their mothers decide to surprise them at university one afternoon, burst into Abiola’s room shouting “surprise”, and find the two women in each other’s arms.

The venue’s listing traces what follows as “shock, disbelief and then utter revulsion”. The play mixes that tension with comedy, and Abiola’s own account of the scene gives a flavour of it:

“In my fear, huddled in the corner of my bed, I begun to laugh hysterically. It seemed that our mothers were trying to outdo each other with the insults. Empty water bottle. Fried rice brain. What is that? But what took the biscuit was Ghanaian jollof! I mean the jury is still out on which jollof is better. Nigerian or Ghanaian? But that is a story for another day.”

Why she wrote it

The production sets out to confront the taboo around homosexuality in many African and Black households. The listing points to the laws behind that silence: in Uganda the Anti Homosexuality Act 2023 allows life imprisonment for consensual same-sex relations, in Nigeria the penalty is up to 14 years in prison, and Ghana’s parliament has approved a bill criminalising homosexual activity.

“This play is more than a love story,” Allimadi says. “It’s a mirror held up to culture, faith and fear.”

The release describes her as an award-winning playwright and director, and the play as “Explosive. Thought-provoking. Unmissable.”

Going

  • When: Saturday 31 October 2026, 2.45pm
  • Where: South Street Arts Centre, 21 South Street, Reading RG1 4QU
  • Running time: about 50 minutes
  • Age guidance: 13+
  • Tickets: £13.50, from the South Street listing or the box office on 0118 960 6060

For everything else on in town this month, see What’s on in Reading.

Sponsored feature for Black & Queer, Doris Allimadi’s new play at South Street.