Queer Newark

Yendor Theatre Company, in partnership with the Queer Newark Oral History Project, presents a staged reading of She Like Girls, the GLAAD award-winning play, written by Chisa Hutchinson and directed by Andrew Binger.

She Like Girls is a coming-of-age, coming-out love story set in Newark in the early 2000s. Kia Clark, an African-American teenager, finds herself falling in love with her classmate, Marisol Feliciano. While supporting Marisol through a health crisis, the two share a forbidden kiss that starts a fulfilling -- but challenging -- romantic relationship. The girls strain to keep their involvement a secret from their conservative mothers and their gay-bashing classmates. Kia becomes more and more vocal about her sexual identity, but pays a high price for declaring her independence.
This play was written in response to the tragic murder of Sakia Gunn, a 15-year-old teenager killed in Newark for being a lesbian. It contains adult context and language and challenges notions about identity, representation, and community.

“Ms. Hutchinson has a sharp ear for dialogue…and shows clearly the web of prejudice and hostility woven by peers and parents.” —The New York Times

This free program is hosted by the Queer Newark Oral History Project and co-sponsored by the Department of Arts, Culture, and Media, the Department of African American and African Studies, and the LGBTQ and Intercultural Resource Center at Rutgers University-Newark.