Last month our drag king cabaret, The Kingdom Come made its long overdue return to Sheffield. Suffice to say, we were very excited. The queer future is here, and drag kings are definitely part of it!
Taking over another new venue for us, Crookes Social Club, we transformed this community venue into a silvery, spacey fantasy ready for our stellar line up to take to the stage.
Romeo De La Cruz. Credit: Dawn Kilner
Our hosts for the evening was the ‘godfather of the modern UK drag king scene’ Adam All, and his partner, Apple Derrieres. With Sigi Moonlight, Mark Anthony, Romeo De La Cruz and Brokeback Yorkshire, our sold out audience was treated to thrills and spills all over.
Adam All and Apple Derrieres hosting The Kingdom Come #6. Credit Dawn Kilner
With Adam and Apple blasting out the power pop anthems, Mark Anthony treating us to his seductive boylesque moves, Brokeback Yorkshire being the campest and sexiest gay cowboys we’ve seen, Romeo De La Cruz powerfully commanding the stage with their choreography and Sigi Moonlight taking us on a sublime yet silly seaside journey!
This was also our first live show where we were able to offer audio description, beautifully delivered by Dot, and our BSL interpreter, Max smashed out the BSL with panache galore.
Sigi Moonlight as Captain Birdseye. Credit: Dawn Kilner
A huge thanks to Crookes Social Club for the warm welcome, to all our artists and crew and brilliant volunteers for helping things run smoothly. We also want to say massive thanks to our community, who on the night, through fervent raffle action, managed to raise £246 for our Pay it Forward Ticket fund. This fund helps us provide free and discounted tickets to those who need them at future events.
Our friendly crew and volunteers were serving up cake and smiles!
The Kingdom Come: Queer Future Edition was our last event of 2022, but we’ll be back in 2023 with more queer joy and delight. Just make sure you’ve signed up to our newsletter to be first to hear about upcoming events and opportunities.
We are thrilled launch our new film, Queer Delight by artist Alexis Maxwell. We commissioned this film after an open call this summer.
Queer Delight is an animated poem inspired by conversations with LGBTQ+ people. It explores and celebrates how delight is experienced in the queer community through mesmerising visuals, music and text.
We’re also happy to be able to offer an audio described version of the film too. Audio description has been provided by Adedamola Bajomo. Just scroll down to play the audio described version.
Alexis Maxwell is a contemporary storyteller based across the North. Using a blend of text, tech and animation they explore ways of interpreting everyday experiences into creative oral history. Self-taught animator and long-time fan of all things spoken word; they draw from interdisciplinary practices to breathe life into poetry.
They love art that embraces a sense of self and community; exploring how diverse voices and experiences can come together to overlap and intersect. But most importantly they love the pursuit of joy and all the challenges that come with it. You can follow Alexis on Instagram here.
We hope you enjoy the film as much as we do, and it brings you plenty delight!
Film and music by Alexis Maxwell Audio Description by Adedamola Bajomo Commissioned by Andro and Eve 2022 Supported using Funding from Arts Council England.
So we’re thrilled to share a specially commissioned film by filmmaker Toni Lee that shows the making of A Reyt Queer Extravaganza and what it meant to the participants and artists involved.
Toni Lee filming participants of Forgeous, Sheffield. Credit – Misha Warren
This collaboration with Ghetto Fabulous was a year in the making, with queer dance and movement workshops in June and July, which brought together a group of LGBTQ+ people from South Yorkshire who were supported to create their own collective and who made their performance debut at A Reyt Queer Extravaganza.
Forgeous onstage at The Leadmill. July 2022. Credit – Misha Warren
A Reyt Queer Extravaganza in July was Sheffield’s first queer led ball, and a huge event, with 25 performers taking to the stage at The Leadmill, and 300 audience members. This film celebrates the people and processes involved in making it all happen. As one audience member said..
The whole event had a brilliantly inclusive feel to it. It felt like everyone on the stage and in the audience was being encouraged and uplifted
Relive the memories, or see what you missed and have a watch now!
Credits
Cinematography and Editing – Toni Lee
Stills photography – Emily Obeng
Artistic Directors – Darren Pritchard for Ghetto Fabulous and Finn Warman for Andro & Eve
Workshop Facilitator – Sym Mendez
Host of Reyt Queer Extravaganza – Rikki Beadle Blair
With thanks to The Leadmill, Montgomery Theatre, Andro & Eve staff and volunteers and all the fierce performers who took to the runway.
This project was made made possible through funding from Arts Council England and The Civic, Barnsley.
You might remember him from our online discussion with Festival of Debate last year, Drag Beyond the Binary, or if you’re a long term Andro and Eve fan, you might have seen him on our stages in 2018!
Ahead of The Kingdom Come, we caught up with him. As somewhat of a chameleon in the drag scene, we thought we’d dig a bit deeper and find out more about this amazing artist!
1. We first had you perform in Sheffield in 2018. How did you get into drag?
I always used to play the male roles at the all girls’ schools I went to, and that was my first approach to performing masculinity and being on stage. I didn’t perform for a while after that. Even though I loved being on the stage, I never felt any of the castings mirrored my gender or racial identity.
Then in 2017, I saw my first ever drag king, johnsmith, who just happened to be performing in Leeds where I used to live. That was when it clicked. I took part in your king workshop led by Adam All and Apple Derrieres a month later and that’s where Sigi Moonlight was born. Shortly following that I came third in Man Up! drag king competition at The Glory, East London and it swiftly took off from there; it felt like I was meant to have been doing this all along.
Sigi Moonlight Performing at The Kingdom Come, 2018
2. Can you tell us about the character of Sigi and how you approach your drag performances?
My drag name is a play on Ziggy Stardust and it’s an expression of everything that’s gone a bit wrong with masculinity. Sigi was born in 2017, the same year that Donald Trump became the POTUS, and to me that spelled the beginning of the end for humanity. Just like Ziggy Stardust, Sigi is a bit of an alien sent to earth, an empty vessel who embodies different types of masculinity in order to shine a light on the weird and terrifying extremes it has reached. My “Siginature” (excuse the pun) style is taking an overtly darkly masculine character and flipping it on its head to reveal a softer, more feminine interior in the form of striptease and comedy.
3. We last caught up with you in a Festival of Debate Q&A in May 2021, what have you been up to since then?
I’ve since joined PECS Drag King Collective, graduated from drama school, got an agent, starred in an HBO series, played on a West End stage, performed in a lead role in Mulan Rouge at The Vaults in Waterloo, and been on a Netflix tour with drag race queens performing at venues across the UK promoting new forms of drag to audiences who’ve never seen a drag king before!
4. You’re part of the Bitten Peach collective. Can you tell us a bit about that, and what you enjoy about performing with them?
The Bitten Peach is the UK’s only Queer Pan-Asian Performer Collective aiming to address the balance of Asian performers on lineups in cabaret and live performance spaces as well as showcase the excellence of Asian talent on the drag and cabaret scene. I have performed in as well as hosted shows with them since they were formed in 2019.
The best thing about performing with The Bitten Peach is the strong sense of community and identity that is served up to make each and every show really special and heartfelt. It doesn’t just feel like any old “gig”; everyone is committed to performing and preparing well, and the spirit in our rehearsals and final shows is very apparent. I also love our outside social occasions like hot pot dinners and sports day events. It feels like being part of one big loving family! I’ll next be appearing in The Bitten Peach Halloween Whodunnit Show on Wednesday 19th October at The Pleasance Theatre in Islington… keep an eye on their socials for tickets!
Sigi Moonlight, who loves a 1950’s or 1960’s rebel! Credit – Captured by Corrine
5. What or who inspires you either in the world of drag or queer performance or any arts and culture?
I look to the aesthetic styles of the 50s and 60s for many of my own fashion sense, poses and direction in my photoshoots and acts. The film rebels, Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift and James Dean, are and will forever be my idols when it comes to style and eschewing the boundaries between masculine and feminine performance onstage and onscreen. In terms of drag artists, I am in awe of the make up talents of Landon Cider, the prop and costume making skills of Oedipussi Rex and Marnie Scarlet, the charisma and voice of LoUis CYfer and Beau Jangles, and the clowning wonders of Fancy Chance. However, I’m also very amazed by the upcoming drag king talent who have emerged the last couple of years.
6. What would you like to see or make happen as part of a hopeful queer future?A mainstream show on a worldwide platform that rivals RuPaul but welcomes and celebrates drag kings. There are more and more talented kings on the scene each year, so I hope it’s only a matter of time before we enter the mainstream.
We showed Leadmill how to really throw a party this July with our biggest event ever – A Reyt Queer Extravaganza!
An evening packed with lewks, lipsyncing and crazy choreography, our artists and fantastic audience made it a night to remember. Legendary MC Rikki Beadle-Blair kicked off proceedings in full bridal couture, and served powerful looks and even more powerful laughs throughout the night.
Host Rikki Beadle-Blair stunned in bridal couture– Credit Emily Obeng
After weeks of exploring queer dance and movement, Sheffield’s very own Forgeous made their debut bringing style, vogue, attitude and queer joy to the catwalk.
Forgeous made their debut. Credit – Misha Warren
Jaws were seen dropping as South Yorkshire legends Bi Polar, King Confuza, Ivy Alexander, Ditzy O Darlin, Northern powerhouses Val Qaeda, Kaan Ghetto, incredible singer/rapper Meduulla and the unstoppable House of Noir and House of Blaque – stunned with impressive looks, walks and tracks in categories from Turn a Lewk to Queer Kink to Lipsync.
Yvn Noir kept it cool – Credit Emily Obeng
Overseeing the evening was our judges – Stuart, Claud Cunningham and Heather Paterson who gave 10s across the board to our performers.
Stuart – one of the judges – Credit Misha Warren
Tasty vegan cake, merch and a slightly more chilled vibe was found in room 2. There, our audience could take a breather, have a chinwag, meet our fantastic volunteers and try to stop themselves buying all of our badges!
And the whole crowd looked incredible of course – were we ever in any doubt?
Party goers enjoyed a dance – Credit Misha Warren
We’re so grateful to all of you who came down and made A Reyt Queer Extravaganza our biggest event ever. Getting together in a huge party, seeing the support for the artists and being in a room full of love and joy with 300 people made the night truly magical!
Ivy Alexander performs onstage at A Reyt Queer Extravaganza. Credit – Misha Warren
And a huge shoutout to our fantastic volunteers (who really are the glue that holds everything together), our incredible audience and to our partners The Civic, Barnsley and funder Arts Council England – their support made this event possible!
Relive the memories in this film by Toni Lee about A Reyt Queer Extragvaganza below.
The crowd enjoyed the show. Credit – Emily Obeng
Angel Blaque jumping for joy – Credit Misha Warren
Take a breath of… FRESH AIR! We are delighted to launch our new zine, in collaboration with the Society of Explorers!
The Society of Explorers are an art collective of 14-18 year olds based at Site Gallery in Sheffield. We delivered our Gender Awareness Training to the Explorers, to share knowledge on how to celebrate and support people of all genders.
Young People from Site Gallery’s Society of Explorer’s created beautiful content for Fresh Air Zine
The full colour zine is full of the young people’s creative responses and includes poems, cartoons, drawings and recipes that aim to raise awareness of issues faced by the LGBTQ+ community and celebrate queer identity and culture.
Inside you’ll also find gorgeous artwork by artist Luci Pina, who has designed this unique zine. This collection of creative work by the young people will leave you full of queer joy and feeling inspired to make a change.
Artwork by Luci Pina, who was chosen by us and the young people to design Fresh Air zine
Fresh Air zine is offered for FREE because we believe that we should all have access to culture and community.
However, if you are able, we would encourage you to add a donation at checkout. 50% of those donations will be donated to SAYiT Sheffield, who provide support and opportunities for LGBTQ+ young people. The remainder helps support our mission to support LGBTQ+ artists and celebrate queer culture.
Our thanks in producing this zine go to Peter and Alfie from Site Gallery. A huge thank you to Luci Pina for her creative vision and hard work, and to all the young people from Society of Explorers who contributed their work.
If you have a group of young people you’d like us to work creatively with, or would like some Gender Awareness Training for your organisation, please feel free to get in touch!
And why are our General Entry tickets sometimes £20?
We’re here today to tackle the tricky question of money. Not in a ‘here’s a spreadsheet, please enjoy’ kind of way (we know that’s a niche joy), more as a way to be transparent on what it really costs to produce the scale of live events we do, and where that money goes.
It won’t have escaped you that there’s a state inflicted poverty war being waged, and so it could be argued we should be offering all our events for free. Problem with that is, we’d not survive long in a capitalist society, and competition for funding gets more fierce every year, so we need to earn income.
We are a not for profit social enterprise, which means any profits we make, go back into supporting the aims of our organisation, namely to create spaces where queer culture is celebrated, and our community has space to connect with one another. We believe in being transparent about our need to be sustainable aka, we’re in this for the long run.
So lets break this down.
You might be here as a community member trying to work out why our ticket prices seem high compared to other queer cultural offerings in South Yorkshire, or you might be working in the culture sector and here to magpie. Its all good. Read on for the inside goss. . .
Jason Andrew voguing at A Reyt Queer Do at Cast, Doncaster 2019.
Our smaller events, like A Reyt Queer Do, cost around £3000 – 4000. That’s just the bare bones. Half of this is on artist and crew fees and their expenses like travel. When we say ‘crew’ we also mean the freelancers who support with production and marketing. A huge amount of time and effort goes into producing our events in a way that is caring and accessible for the team we work with and our community. That prep work needs investment. As does good access. We are committed to ensuring our events are accessible, and we pay people fairly for their skills. Think BSL interpretation, captioning and all the time we put into communicating so that our community knows what access provisions are in place.
What that £3k does not cover are our overheads. Things like insurance, IT, staff wages (we’ve currently got one part time employee) and the associated costs of running a business, like taxes, professional fees and website maintenance. Fun eh?
It’s also important to note we don’t have a venue. So while that helps keeps overheads down, it does mean we spend more on hiring quality venues that are accessible. Some venues have been incredibly supportive in offering us free hire or discounted rates, but at the scale we work, venue and tech is still a significant cost, and Sheffield is not blessed with as many live performance venues as other large cities, so we have to be flexible on the spaces we use.
The Kingdom Come with Shesus and the Sisters at Abbeydale Picture House. 2019
So now we come to our larger events like The Kingdom Come, our drag king cabaret. Here, we spend more. Whereas A Reyt Queer Do is for an average audience size of 140 – 170, The Kingdom Come is designed for 300+ people to enjoy. Bigger event, bigger budget. So we’re looking at around £5 – £6k. Again half of this is on artist and crew fees. But even with a sell out, we are not breaking even, because the costs of access, overheads and staff time are not covered by our ticket sales.
Sigi Moonlight at The Kingdom Come. 2018
So WHY DO YOU BOTHER we hear you scream at your screen? That’s where funding comes in. When we embarked on this queer culture journey, we quickly worked out that to make this sustainable, our core team would need paying. Can’t pay rent on the feel good factor eh? We know enough of our DIY queer scene herstory to realise burn out is a real and present danger.
It should also be pointed out that in the drag and cabaret scene it is not uncommon for performers to be paid way under the industry rate, or not paid at all. We believe fiercely in the value of drag and cabaret as an art form that pushes boundaries and gives voice to those otherwise marginalised, and its also *the most * entertaining too. The artists making it deserve to be paid fairly! (Don’t get us wrong, DIY scenes run by a committed team and serious amounts of volunteered time are wonderful and have produced some amazing culture, but that has become increasingly challenging in this neoliberal climate we live in).
So in order to support staff wages, and freelancers, we apply for grant funding and generate income through other means, like our merch, commissions and bookable training and workshops which includes our Gender Awareness Training and Gender Exploration Workshop. This supports the rest of our programme delivery. But without the grant funding, we could not produce the programmes of creative activity like the live performance events and workshops that we do.
Through the pandemic we continued to offer creative activities online.
So why is it still sometimes £20 for a General Entry ticket if you’ve got grant funding?
With Arts Council, we have to have at least 30% match funding for a programme of activity. So if a programme costs £30,000, we need to demonstrate we have got £9k of other income. That could be in the form of other grant funding, commission fees or ticket sales. So ticket sales still make up a vital part of our income stream.
We also believe in the quality and uniqueness of our work. Compared to larger subsidised theatre, or the commercial drag sector, our tickets are still competitively priced. We are also unique in offering a clear and consistent Sliding Scale Ticket pricing system in place to support those on lower incomes to attend our events. We got this idea from Leeds Queer Film Fest and SQIFF, and this system has been in place for our events since 2017. It also enables us to give free tickets for refugees and people seeking asylum. Currently we do this though our friends at Lesbian Asylum Support Sheffield.
Solidarity Tickets were our own invention, and they are a way for those who can afford to, to ‘pay it forward’ and contribute directly to our ticket fund. This is ring-fenced money that directly supports the provision of cheaper and free tickets at our events. If you can afford to, we very much encourage you to buy one of these tickets.
It’s also worth noting, that we have been successful in getting funding to support free programmes of activity, like Joyful Noise zine in 2021, and there’ll always be parts of our creative programmes of workshops and events that are free for people to access, like the current Feeling Fabulous follow on workshops this July.
Our Feeling Fabulous Workshops in June 2022 with Ghetto Fabulous – Image Emma Bentley Fox
Our current programme is our most ambitious to date, and A Reyt Queer Extravaganza at The Leadmill, is our biggest ever event, with 20+ artists performing, (compared to 5 – 7 at our usual cabaret events). We have also been working in partnership with Ghetto Fabulous to produce and programme this event, which has needed proper time and investment. So our budget is reflective of the scale and ambition.
We’re here to demonstrate the value of queer culture to our LGBTQ+ community and beyond, and implement best practice when it comes to accessibility and equity in our working models. We know this is the harder way, but the payoff in terms of wellbeing for our community and those we work with, is worth the investment.
So next time someone says ‘why are Andro and Eve’s tickets £X’, feel free to signpost them to this blog. We here, we’re queer, and making space for long term investment in our community. See you at the Extravganza on 30 July!
House of Blaque will be performing at A Reyt Queer Extravaganza on 30 July
On the 12th June we produced our first live cabaret event in 2.5 years at Sidney and Matilda with our 6th Reyt Queer Do. The night was full of great music, cake and stunning looks from both the acts and audience.
A Reyt Queer Do #6 at Sidney and Matilda. Supported using funding from Arts Council England.
Hosted by Sadie Sinner, with performances by cabaret star RhyssPieces and a host of Yorkshire talent including drag queen Ditzy O Darlin, poet Audrey Violet, singer Jordan Meriel, singer songwriter, Laura Hegarty and drag king Raymond Petty, the venue was filled with queer cheer. The audience did not disappoint, as they also brought the energy with singing, dancing and general enthusiasm.
Our raffle was back too, with 1st place winning a hamper of queer goodies and treats, and 2nd place winning a gift box from Beer Central. The proceedings went towards the Pay It Forward ticket fund, enabling us to provide those on low incomes and refugees with free or discounted tickets at future events.
RhyssPieces works the crowd at Sidney and Matilda
We would like to say a huge thank you to the crew and volunteers who helped us to run this event. Thank you to those who bought tickets to support the acts, and to those who bought raffle tickets. A huge thanks to all the performers for showcasing their talent, and to Sidney and Matilda for hosting us.
We’re even more geared up for A Reyt Queer Extravaganza, our collaboration with Ghetto Fabulous, supported by Barnsley Civic in July now!
Here are some more photos all taken by Sophie Okonkwo of our acts and audience….
We’re very excited to launch an open call to find an artist to create a digital film on the theme of ‘Delight’.
Queerness is something that an individual experiences in their own way. What delights you as a LGBTQ+ person? What delightful experiences would you want to convey to other LGBTQ+ people? What sensory delights have meaning for you?
Many LGBTQ+ people have suffered from disconnection through the pandemic. Finding and feeling delight can be healing. Many of us are still unable to be physically together, and this commission is intended to bring delight to LGBTQ+ people who are still isolated as well as the wider community.
We imagine that this short film will primarily be shared via technologies like mobiles and tablets, but we also intend on it being displayed in a physical location or locations later in 2022. We want to ensure the film is accessible, and can support you to make sure it is accessible to deaf people and people with sensory processing issues.
We use the term ‘artist’ to encompass people working in illustration, animation, moving image, and a myriad of other mediums. As long as you can produce something to be experienced digitally then this opportunity is for you.
This commission is aimed at emerging or mid – career artists identifying as LGBTQIA and is open to artists based in the Midlands or North of England only.
Commission: 5 days at £250 – £1250.00
Materials or equipment costs covered up to £100
Timeframe: Final film to be completed by 20 September.
100 – 200 words about what ideas you’d like to develop for this commission; responding to the theme of ‘delight’
A brief artist biography
If you have any questions about this opportunity please don’t hesitate to drop us a line. FAQ’s will be posted here as they emerge.
As well as supporting a wide range of artists, our team have lived experiences that enable them to support inclusive practices. We particularly encourage submissions from those currently under-represented within the UK arts sector, including those of Black, Asian or other Global Majority ethnicities, those who have faced socio – economic barriers, those who identify as LGBTQI+ and those who are disabled or neurodiverse.
Deadline for submissions 9am Friday 22 July.
FAQ’s
How long should the final film be?
We do not expect the film to be any longer than 7 minutes, and anything between 3 – 7 minutes is what we’re expecting. We’re happy to discuss this further with the artist we commission.
I am based outside of the North of England or the Midlands, can I apply?
Sadly not. This opportunity is only open to creative people and artists based in these regions, in order that we fulfil our mission to celebrate and represent LGBTQ+ people in the region in which we are based.
We’re reyt chuffed to be providing some open mic slots for emerging acts at A Reyt Queer Do 6 on Sunday 12 June. This queer cabaret event, is our belated 5th birthday celebration, and is at Sidney and Matilda in Sheffield city centre.
This event, hosted by scene legend, Sadie Sinner is about platforming emerging queer performance talent. Whether you’re a new act, or you have new work you want to test out in front of a friendly live audience, we’d love to hear from you.
Drag, comedy, clowning, queerlesque, song, anything goes, as long as it will entertain. In return for you performing one 3 – 5 minute act we’ll provide refreshments and up to £50 to reimburse any expenses. You’ll also receive a few photos of you performing shot by a professional photographer. We just need you to be available from 3.30pm on the day of the event.
To apply for one of our open mic slots, please send us
The name of your act
Where you are based
How much experience you have (no experience is fine, but its good to know)
Your act’s tagline ( if you have one)
Your act’s bio – this is more relevant for drag, but it should give us an idea of your stage persona, and what’s important to them.
A 2 – 5 minute video showing us an extract of your act or performance. If there is already a video online of you performing this act somewhere, you can send us the link.
We understand the pandemic means you might not have had any performance opportunities before, so if the video is you sharing your talents at home, thats fine! We’re just looking for people who will entertain our crowd. More information on the access provisions in the venue can be found here.
Send the above info to hello@androandeve.com
Deadline to apply: 10am Wednesday 1st June. Priority for slots will go to those based in Yorkshire. We look forward to hearing from you! If you have any questions please drop us a line.
Maz Hedgehog performs at A Reyt Queer Do 5, 2019
Keep in touch
Sign up to our newsletter to keep up-to-date with our latest news, events and offers.
Donate
Your donation will be used to help us continue to support queer artists and culture. You can also donate through ko‑fi.com/androandeve
