Playwright and performer Luis Bellassai presents his new play, I am 108, as part of the 2024 Halifax Fringe Festival. The play brings to life the story of the number 108, a historical number associated with the persecution of homosexuals under Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner.
To tackle homophobia and the history of injustices and horrors suffered by our community, no form is more appropriate than the proudest and loudest of all: drag.
In this Q&A, we learn more from director Luciana Silvestre Fernandes.
I am 108 plays as part of the 2024 Halifax Fringe Festival at Neptune Theatre’s Imperial Studio (1593 Argyle St, Halifax) on August 29 & 31 and September 1, 3, & 4. Visit halifaxfringefestival.ca for tickets and information.
This interview has been edited.
Q. Tell us about I am 108. What can audiences expect?
In I am 108, Juanita Bang Bang, a vibrant, campy comedy drag queen, brings to life the history of the number 108, a historical number associated with the persecution of homosexuals under the Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner.
Firmly grounded in documentary history, Juanita Bang Bang pieces together the story of Bernardo Aranda Valdez’s murder and the fight for queer rights in Paraguay. Juanita embodies herself and historical characters on a journey filled with authenticity and lived experience on what is also a deeply personal moment for the author, a gay Paraguayan immigrant himself who came to Canada to live his full authentic self and struggles with his relationship with his queer community back home.
Q. What was the inspiration for the show?
Luis Belassai wrote this play to reflect his experiences as a queer immigrant and his desire to share the history of his people, as mainstream media do not tell it. As queer immigrants, Luis and I often find ourselves navigating stories that are not our own and that are rarely reflective of our full experiences. This play honours our past and our present. As immigrants, we make the decision to change our lives without forsaking where we come from.
Q. Why this particular show now?
In the United States, Canada, and several countries in Latin America, the art of drag is under attack by conservative groups. It is crucial for us to tell this story through this art form, which is all about exuberance, taking the rigidity and performativity of traditional gendered expectations and twisting them, much like a funhouse mirror reflecting and distorting our world. Drag is an exceptionally disruptive form to heteronormativity that is still all about queer joy and glitter. To tackle homophobia and the history of injustices and horrors suffered by our community, no form is more appropriate than the proudest and loudest of all: drag.
I am 108 plays as part of the 2024 Halifax Fringe Festival at Neptune Theatre’s Imperial Studio (1593 Argyle St, Halifax) on August 29 & 31 and September 1, 3, & 4. Visit halifaxfringefestival.ca for tickets and information.