🎭 Born Naked by ZikkaZimba Productions – Study
Guide by Miss Mchunu
📘 1. Overview
Title: Born Naked
Company: ZikkaZimba Productions
Directors/Creators: Kirsten Harris & Laverne Reddy
Genre: Physical Theatre / Socio-political Satire / Dark Comedy
Performance Style: Physical theatre, minimal props, gender performativity
Language: English with code-switching (South African vernacular, isiZulu,
Afrikaans)
Setting: South Africa – contemporary and memory-based spaces
🌍 2. Context and Background
Cultural Context:
Born Naked explores the complex realities of being queer, gender-nonconforming, or
trans in contemporary South Africa. The country has progressive legal protections for
LGBTQIA+ people, but widespread homophobia, transphobia, and hate crimes
persist.
Theatrical Context:
Influenced by physical theatre traditions and queer performance art, the production
draws from postmodern and feminist theatre, satire, and clowning to expose serious
socio-political issues while using humor and transformation.
Title Meaning:
“Born Naked” suggests that all human beings enter the world without gendered
expectations, and the social constructs of gender are imposed later. It also nods to
RuPaul’s famous quote: “We are all born naked and the rest is drag.”
, 🧵 3. Plot Summary
The play follows Noxi, a gender non-conforming character navigating the complexities of
identity, acceptance, and survival in a patriarchal and homophobic society. Through
fragmented scenes that blend personal memories, drag performance, fantasy, and stark
reality, Noxi reflects on childhood, sexual awakening, abuse, violence, resilience, and self-
empowerment.
The narrative is non-linear and multi-vocal, often shifting rapidly between characters and
timelines. Noxi becomes both storyteller and character, at times addressing the audience
directly, while at other times embodying other figures in their life.
👥 4. Character Breakdown
Main Character: Noxi
A queer, gender-fluid individual (often performed by a single actor using voice and
physical transformation to portray multiple characters).
Bold, vulnerable, witty, and defiant.
Narrator and central character; their journey is at the heart of the play.
Supporting Characters (played by the same performer):
Noxi’s Mother – Religious, traditional, struggles to accept her child.
Classmates / Bullies – Represent societal cruelty and ignorance.
Lover(s) – Complex relationships shaped by secrecy, shame, or liberation.
Authority Figures – Teachers, doctors, police – often hostile or dismissive.
Drag Persona / Alter Ego – Symbol of empowerment, joy, defiance.
🔍 5. Themes
1. Gender Identity and Fluidity
Deconstructs gender binaries and explores the freedom of self-definition.
2. Queerness and Resistance
Celebrates queer identity in the face of violence and exclusion.
3. Body and Transformation
The body becomes a site of struggle and expression.
4. Shame and Empowerment
Journey from internalized shame to pride and liberation.
5. Homophobia and Violence
Addresses corrective rape, hate crimes, and systemic oppression.
6. Performance and Survival
Drag and performance as tools of both escape and resistance.
Guide by Miss Mchunu
📘 1. Overview
Title: Born Naked
Company: ZikkaZimba Productions
Directors/Creators: Kirsten Harris & Laverne Reddy
Genre: Physical Theatre / Socio-political Satire / Dark Comedy
Performance Style: Physical theatre, minimal props, gender performativity
Language: English with code-switching (South African vernacular, isiZulu,
Afrikaans)
Setting: South Africa – contemporary and memory-based spaces
🌍 2. Context and Background
Cultural Context:
Born Naked explores the complex realities of being queer, gender-nonconforming, or
trans in contemporary South Africa. The country has progressive legal protections for
LGBTQIA+ people, but widespread homophobia, transphobia, and hate crimes
persist.
Theatrical Context:
Influenced by physical theatre traditions and queer performance art, the production
draws from postmodern and feminist theatre, satire, and clowning to expose serious
socio-political issues while using humor and transformation.
Title Meaning:
“Born Naked” suggests that all human beings enter the world without gendered
expectations, and the social constructs of gender are imposed later. It also nods to
RuPaul’s famous quote: “We are all born naked and the rest is drag.”
, 🧵 3. Plot Summary
The play follows Noxi, a gender non-conforming character navigating the complexities of
identity, acceptance, and survival in a patriarchal and homophobic society. Through
fragmented scenes that blend personal memories, drag performance, fantasy, and stark
reality, Noxi reflects on childhood, sexual awakening, abuse, violence, resilience, and self-
empowerment.
The narrative is non-linear and multi-vocal, often shifting rapidly between characters and
timelines. Noxi becomes both storyteller and character, at times addressing the audience
directly, while at other times embodying other figures in their life.
👥 4. Character Breakdown
Main Character: Noxi
A queer, gender-fluid individual (often performed by a single actor using voice and
physical transformation to portray multiple characters).
Bold, vulnerable, witty, and defiant.
Narrator and central character; their journey is at the heart of the play.
Supporting Characters (played by the same performer):
Noxi’s Mother – Religious, traditional, struggles to accept her child.
Classmates / Bullies – Represent societal cruelty and ignorance.
Lover(s) – Complex relationships shaped by secrecy, shame, or liberation.
Authority Figures – Teachers, doctors, police – often hostile or dismissive.
Drag Persona / Alter Ego – Symbol of empowerment, joy, defiance.
🔍 5. Themes
1. Gender Identity and Fluidity
Deconstructs gender binaries and explores the freedom of self-definition.
2. Queerness and Resistance
Celebrates queer identity in the face of violence and exclusion.
3. Body and Transformation
The body becomes a site of struggle and expression.
4. Shame and Empowerment
Journey from internalized shame to pride and liberation.
5. Homophobia and Violence
Addresses corrective rape, hate crimes, and systemic oppression.
6. Performance and Survival
Drag and performance as tools of both escape and resistance.
