Writer tells dark story of rape revenge with stage production
A Bo-Kaap teacher and writer Zubayr Charles has high hopes for his latest production, this bra’s a psycho - a crime-thriller tackling the rape revenge genre by telling it from a male, coloured and queer perspective, after a successful reading of the stage play last Thursday, October 3.
The production, which was well-received by a full audience at the Artscape arena, formed part of the Artscape and the Suidoosterfees’ New Voices programme, which focuses on staging new work by established and first-time writers.
The play will be considered for having an official run at Artscape and the Suidoosterfees in 2025 as part of the programme.
“Initially, I was unsure about submitting to the New Voices programme, as I thought the selection panel would think that I was weird and that the story was too dark. Since then, I have been in my head about how people would react, however, I never expected the show to be so well-received,” said Zubayr.
The production tells the story of The Bra who, after waking up delirious in an unknown warehouse, has to grapple with the trauma of being sexually assaulted. He thereafter hopes to build connections with various men on dating apps to make sense of his trauma, but after being triggered, he starts a killing spree.
Little does The Bra know that he is being followed and is the subject of an undercover police investigation.
The story was inspired by Zubayr’s obsession with crime thrillers, and a film called Promising Young Woman - a girl who seeks revenge for her best friend who committed suicide after being raped by their classmate.
The production has two actors who play all the roles - The Bra is played by James Stoffberg, and the rest of the characters are played by Anzio September. “I must give immense credit to both James and Anzio for elevating my writing and overall direction,” said Zubayr.
Growing up, Zubayr said his parents were “meticulous orators” and they would often tell him folk tales about how they grew up in Bo-Kaap.
Many years later, he suffered from severe insomnia, and kept calm by creating stories. “Each night I would lie in bed and imagine various stories that I thought would be cool.”
In 2020, he enrolled for his Masters in Creative Writing Degree at UCT, and started officially taking his writing seriously.
Apart from his writing, Zubayr is also an English teacher. “Constantly engaging with language and literature in class informs my writing. It's important to steal with the eye, and by seeing the worlds of other literary giants, I am able to improve my writing.”
Zubayr said he fell into script writing by accident with his first production he wrote five years ago, called The Battered Housewives' Club, a story of five women who attend a weekly meeting to voice their struggles with domestic abuse and gender-based violence.
The story was born when he previously taught at an all girls' high school, and wanted to explain the impacts of toxic relationships and gender-based violence. “I knew that my former learners wouldn't take me seriously if I were to stand in front of the class and preach, so I decided to write and stage a play at our school to show them.”
The Battered Housewives' Club was staged at Artscape in August this year.
He also formed part of industry workshops and programmes, including Baxter Theatre’s How to Write a Musical Workshop under the mentorship of David Kramer in 2019; and contributed as a dialogue writer at Stemme Projek at the 2023 Suidoosterfees.
He also attended the LitNet’s and The Jakes Gerwel Foundation’s Kommadagga Nonfiction and Short Story Writing Residency under the mentorship of Rachelle Greeff in 2020, and an excerpt of his third play, titled Please don’t call me moffie, which follows the lives of five coloured, Cape Malay gay men in their late 20s who share their experiences growing up Muslim and queer in Cape Town, starring Anzio September, was showcased at the 2023 Teksmark Festival.
Zubayr’s second play, Mercy, which explores dementia, mental health and family disputes was first showcased at Theatre Arts in 2023, and was also part of the Zabalaza Festival at The Baxter Theatre where he and the team won best supporting actress, and received a best actor nomination.
Zubayr received a best script nomination, which garnered a top 4 spot out of 31 scripts. “Although I didn't win, I learnt effective ways on how to improve my theatre-making skills.”
Zubayr said in creative writing, he believes it was important to think of the most obscure way to tell a story, and it is important to avoid cliche writing too.
He said language was a big part of his writing, and tried his best to incorporate Afrikaans, Cape Muslim Vernacular and Arabic words and phrases into his writing. “We need to move past telling stories in one way, and instead, use the multi-linguistics we have here in Cape Town to our advantage.”
With this bra is a psycho, Zubayr said he wanted to focus on the intersectionality of race and queer identity, as it was important to him to represent marginalised groups in storytelling
He said despite society taking various measures to be more open-minded and inclusive, there were still many who struggle with their identity.
“Although the two main characters in this story are queer, there is a universal theme of loneliness, online dating and finding love and connections that all audience members can resonate with.”
Zubayr said he hopes to tour with the show, and would love to see it at the Artscape and the Suidoorsterfees in 2025.
He is also finishing his novel, Haram which focuses on a young man struggling with his sexuality and alcoholism, which he hopes to publish next year, and is hopeful that Please don't call me moffie, Mercy and The Battered Housewives' Club would also be showcased at mainstream theatres in 2025.