Ugandan poet and playwright Jedidiah Mugarura is set to premiere their latest play, Tomorrow Never Came, in New York City in June 2025. The production will be staged at the HERE Arts Center as part of the Criminal Queerness Festival, a program by the National Queer Theater that highlights LGBTQ+ voices from countries where queer identity is criminalized or censored.
Directed by Ogemdi Ude, Tomorrow Never Came will have five public showings: June 11, 17, and 19 at 7 p.m., and earlier performances on June 21 and 22 at 2 p.m.
Set in post-conflict Uganda in 1987, the play follows Lawrence Muhumuza, a revered war hero grappling with the emotional aftermath of a liberation he helped secure. As Lawrence attempts to leave his wife, Rhoda, for his male lover, Sam, he is forced to confront the price of freedom in a society where love and truth remain dangerous. The story weaves together political tension, personal betrayal, and repressed desire, asking whether true freedom is possible in a world that demands silence.
Mugarura’s writing is known for its lyrical depth and political urgency. As a storyteller descended from the people of Nkore, their work engages with the colonial legacies that continue to shape African identities and imagines futures of autonomy for those navigating empire’s ongoing reach.
Tomorrow Never Came marks a significant milestone in Mugarura’s career, positioning their voice on an international stage at the intersection of art, resistance, and visibility. Their participation in the Criminal Queerness Festival aligns with the festival’s mission to amplify underrepresented queer narratives and challenge cultural silencing.
Talking about participating in the festival in an email, they share:
Ask me, ‘Who has affirmed you as a writer?’ This festival will always come to mind. National Queer Theater has taken this play, initially read in the basement of a cultural centre in a Uganda that criminalised its staging, and brought the narrative before an international audience. Having this play staged in 2025 is a revolutionary act because the drama (set in 1987) seeks to criticize the government of Uganda, which promised a tomorrow liberated from tyranny, but that is currently seeking re-election in February 2026, forty years later.
Mugarura started their career with Brittle Paper, with the publication of the poem “Obutumwa: A Letter to Atuhwera” in 2021. We are so excited to see how far they’ve come!
See the full schedule for the festival and buy tickets here!
COMMENTS -
Reader Interactions