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!
Keen for more? Get tickets to The Kingdom Come #6 NOW!
The crowd enjoyed the show. Credit – Emily Obeng
Angel Blaque jumping for joy – Credit Misha Warren
Earliler this month we launched Joyful Noise zine with a cosy evening of food, hot chocolate, zine making and drag performance from drag king, Christian Adore at Sheffield cafe, Birdhouse Tea Bar and Kitchen.
Guests loved having Christian Adore serenade them!
It was wonderful, if a little surreal to be back together in person again. Once we’d got our heads around the extra safety precautions to manage COVID, we all got in the swing of creating an atmosphere of celebration and joy that Andro and Eve is so known for.
There were plenty news faces at the event, and Seleena Laverne Daye, the artist who curated Joyful Noise zine also joined us. Our fab volunteers helped show folk how to make their own mini zines, and seeing the results was a delight!
The Andro and Eve volunteer crew sharing how to make mini zines!
Christian Adore serenaded our guests at their tables, making everyone chuckle with his witty improvised raps, a perfect treat to top of this special event.
Since the launch we’ve so far managed to raise £235 for Radical Therapist Network’s QTIBIPOC Therapy Fund, which is just brilliant, with stocks of Joyful Noise zine now seriously low.
Joyful Noise zine launch was our first and last IRL event of 2021, but we very much hope (and are planning for) a return to bigger live events in 2022. To help make that a reality, you can donate using the link above. Your support, as always, is so appreciated.
Zines made on the night of Joyful Noise zine launch
Back in the day, after a year of running Andro and Eve we started to learn a lot more about the LGBTQ+offer in Sheffield. And it was fairly slim pickings. Then a guide came out describing the gay scene as ‘thriving’. So we wrote this blog in response. We basically were talking about cats in DIY shops as ‘queer’, because we were working so hard to find you all the queer things!
But its 2021, and despite a global pandemic, things have changed a bit for the better in terms of an LGBTQ+ offer in Sheffield. Theres a long way to go, but there is at least *something*.
We were recently commissioned by Visit Sheffield to write this article for LGBTQ+ visitors to the city, and locals too. Below you’ll find much of the info repeated, but with added sass and, (no shade), better font sizing.
Well this guide is not about the spaces a quick web search will help you find, (few though they may be). It’s about the queer alternative, the low-key and welcoming venues that are not LGBTQ+ specific, but where you will find LGBTQ+ people.
It is written by a 30 – something non binary person (androgynous to masculine presenting) who has experienced their fair share of homophobia and misogyny and understands the need for spaces that are genuinely welcoming. This is one of the reason’s I co-founded Andro and Eve back in 2016.
The audience at an Andro and Eve event
From night – life to cafes, culture and sports, this guide should have something for you to enjoy. This guide focuses on more centrally located places owing to their accessibility to the majority. Access has also been prioritised. The majority of spaces have been chosen because they offer options for those with physical disabilities, dietary requirements or sensory processing issues.
So read on to discover some hidden gems!
Pubs and Bars
Traditionally the LGBTQ+ scene has centered around LGBTQ+ specific venues for important safety and community building reasons. Although this guide is about so much more than that, its still well worth highlighting some Sheffield drinking establishments you can spot fellow queers at, and that feel safe.
The Rutland is a ‘traditional pub’ in the sense that it has original windows, and an excellent selection of cask ales, wines and spirits, but that’s as far as the traditions extend. It stands out from the crowd for its décor. Understated it aint. Think queer with a capital Q, weird horror, placards from previous protests in Sheffield, topped off with a bit of spangle and the surreal. The jukebox creates a real sense of atmosphere (just don’t choose the forbidden songs), and their beer garden is spacious. Their famous ‘Rutty Butty’ is chunky and reyt tasty, and like the rest of their food, gives you a decent amount of vegan options. Reliably open 7 days a week, and situated in a handy to access spot in the Cultural Industries Quarter. Step access at the front, but the venue has a ramp they can grab. Sadly no disabled toilet. Pre pandemic they’ve been known to run LGBTQ+ specific nights, but you’ll always find a selection of Sheffield queers here.
The Industry Tap
Nearish to this on Sidney Street is Industry Tap. Relatively new to Sheffield’s roaring real ale scene, its already made a mark for its frankly banging, and ever changing selection of draught beers and ales. Its position means the outdoor seating gets that lovely late afternoon / evening sun, and it is unofficially run by queer women. Attracting a real mix of people, from goths to hipster types, its got level access and a disabled toilet and does not play loud music. There are two gendered toilets but they are both self contained off the main space. Gluten free and vegan options, and open Tuesday – Sunday.
Beer Engine is worth checking out for its tasty tapas, (hello vegan and GF options) delicious wine, gin and cask ale selection and decent sized beer garden. Situated on the edge of the city near London Road, you’ll often find some LGBTQ+ community members (often lesbian / queer women) tucked into its cosy snugs and raising a glass to their chosen family. Toilets are gendered, but decent.
Tasty tacos from Pina
Down in Kelham, Bar Pina is the one for those of you who love a cocktail. This Mexican themed bar is refreshingly free of any signs of cultural clichés, and simply serves up mouth – watering margaritas and fresh tacos. Their tacos are so fresh with great vegan options. Staying open late on weekends, the bar can get lively, but their beer garden is the perfect place to chill with friends. As of Summer 2021, they’ve also started doing a monthly queer night. They have ramp access through the beer garden, but the ground outside is gravel. Gendered toilets but with private full – length cubicles.
Over in the upcoming area of Victoria Quays, is quirky waterside drinking hole, Dorothy Pax. LGBT+ owned, it’s really come into its own in 2021, with a lively crowd drinking by the canal day and night. Known for its eclectic live music offer, often featuring folk artists, it comes highly recommended for the service and warm welcome guests are provided with. Sadly, no level access, (unless you stay canal-side, where the ground is uneven).
Nightlife and Entertainment
Drag King Oedipussi at The Kingdom Come 2019.
If you’re after a night out, but want a cultural hit to be the focus, look no further than Andro and Eve!We are most well known as the creator of drag king cabaret, The Kingdom Come. (Drag kings have often been the overlooked artists of the drag scene, so we put them front and centre). Pre pandemic, you could find us popping up in venues around the city, including Abbeydale Picture House, sharing the most exciting UK queer performance with a side order of vegan cake. During the pandemic, drag king workshops previously offered in person, have moved online, along with workshops in zine making, creative writing and gender exploration. Plans are afoot to bring back an in person offer, but in the meantime, you can get hold of our print offer, in the form of Centre zine, or upcoming zine, Joyful Noise.
The Andro and Eve crowd at Theatre Deli Sheffield
The ever welcomingTheatre Deli, home of Andro and Eve’s queer cabaret, A Reyt Queer Do, is a great place to find the best in new theatre, with plenty shows focusing on LGBTQ+ stories, and a programme exploring diverse voices. Home to excellent local festivals including Migration Matters, you can also catch some exciting Fringe shows before they make their way to Edinburgh. The venue is quirkily decorated, with level access and both gender neutral, gender specific and disabled toilets.
Newly relocated DINA also serves up a healthy dose of queer performance, including alternative drag shows and locally run variety evening Sounds Queer. Their new venue in Fitzalan Square feels airy, with a bar serving drinks and snacks, and level access and disabled toilet. The performance space however, is not wheelchair accessible. You can also catch bigger drag acts and live music at famous Sheffield venue, the Leadmill, which has level access and disabled toilet.
Gut Level Sheffield has a very cute urban garden in their courtyard
For late night thrills head down to Gut Level, Sheffield’s new queer club and workshop space, run on a not for profit basis. Gut Level is now the home of long running queer techno / acid house night Club Rush, (@club.rush.party) as well as hosting workshops with collectives including Working Them’s Club and Flaw Collective, focused on making space for marginalised genders. Their courtyard also offers opportunities to garden with Wet Patch. No level access or disabled toilet, but toilets are all gender. To gain entry you need to be a member.
If your after a queer film or two, get down to Showroom Cinema, Sheffield’s original independent cinema which also has a bar where you’ll often spot more mature members of the LGBTQ+ community and bag a drinks offer. Level access and disabled toilet provided.
Treehouse Board Game Cafe
If you’re keen on some board games you might want to check out Treehouse Board Game Café. Situated at the bottom of London Road, tables are booked in timed slots, and then you have access to over 700 board games. With a café / bar serving a great selection of cask ales, wines and spirits and plenty hot beverages non alcoholic options, alongside homemade food catering for vegans, you can expect a warm welcome here. Pre pandemic they ran Treehouse Rainbow Gamers, for all members of the LGBTQIA community. Keep an eye on their social media to see when this may return. Level access and disabled toilet.
Cafes / Eateries
As well as being famous for its ales and local brewing scene, Sheffield also does good coffee, and has a thriving independent café scene. You can find top quality coffee and your fair share of the LGBTQ+ community in fave local haunts like Tamper Sellers Wheel, a New Zealand inspired café, with sheltered courtyard and level access, which serves delicious fresh cooked food, and Kelham based Gaard Coffee, which also has a cute courtyard with an emphasis on cakes and simple food catering to vegans. Both venues are open daytimes seven days a week, and have level access but no disabled toilet. However, all gender toilets are provided in the form of self – contained bathrooms.
Birdhouse Tea Studio. Always supporting the LGBTQ+ community
Airy and bright Birdhouse Tea Bar and Kitchen is the home of Yorkshire’s much loved loose – leaf Birdhouse Tea, and open Wednesday – Sunday. Situated on Sidney Street, this independent local business offers a plethora of drinks, with tea both served traditionally, and in cocktails and tea lattes (their chai latte is dreamy). Owner Becky is a whizz at creating moreish cakes and bakes, catering to a range of dietary requirements and they serve stone baked pizza and tasty brunches. Their courtyard is a great place to meet friends, and they have level access with disabled toilet, and all gender private toilets. Birdhouse is welcoming of everyone, and a real mix of people can be found here. Also, rather uniquely for a city centre venue, if you have a canine companion, you’ll be pleased to know dogs are also catered for, with doggy treats and water provided.
Steamyard Coffee is a bit legendary in Sheffield for their dedication to coffee and doughnuts. They also serve up amazing grilled sandwiches, bagels and stock Elly Joy doughnots, for those who need their sweet treats gluten free and vegan. Located on Division Street, and attracting a real mix of folk, their service is always excellent. Toilets are self – contained bathrooms and they have level access and disabled toilet.
Terrace Goods in the city centre
Opened in 2020, Terrace Goods is centrally located on a sheltered terrace in Orchard Square, and is open Wednesday – Saturday. This place comes recommended for its very friendly service, delicious diner style food (vegan diets catered for) and cocktails. They are soon to launch bottomless brunch events. If you like your music loud, you’ll enjoy the atmosphere. Sadly it is not wheelchair accessible.
For those of you more inclined to get active, Sheffield is called the Outdoor City for a reason. To be honest, historically it has been harder to meet fellow LGBTQ+ people if you are not the sporty type in this city! Thankfully, Sheffield’s ‘active’ offer now has something even for those who prefer to watch than participate!
You can’t go wrong with some rock climbing in Sheffield, and there are a huge choice of climbing walls in Sheffield. But for guaranteed ‘flirting’ aka, ‘checking in’ with a queer hottie who just fell off a wall / scaled to the top, the Climbing Works bouldering centre wins.
Sheffield Rainbow Blades
Rainbow Blades is a Sheffield United supporters’ group but they welcome everyone. They meet at Sheffield LGBT+ bar / café Spirit of Sheffield every Sheffield United home match day, where they eat, drink and socialise in this safe & welcoming LGBT+ venue. Even if you don’t feel comfortable attending Bramall Lane, you can still attend their meet up’s to meet likeminded people.
Sheffield Steel Roller Girls (SSRG)
If you like your sports fast and furious, and have some skating skills, you might want to get involved with Sheffield’s ever popular Roller Derby scene. Sheffield Steel Roller Derby (SSRD) are the OG’s with skating opportunities for both 18+ and juniors 8 – 18. The juniors’ league is open to all genders while the adults’ league caters solely to female and non-binary skaters, and they are explicitly trans-friendly. As of Autumn 2021, SSRG are returning to weekly in person training at Skate Central. Matches, when they happen again, are a brilliant way to be surrounded by queer women and enjoy the thrills of this welcoming sport. For those wishing to be part of a more gender expansive team, The Inhuman Leaguebased in the North of Sheffield are open to all adults.
If you like Skating but in more of a chilled, ‘have a go at an ollie and fall over, but everyone cheers anyway’ then Queer Skate Sheffield could be for you. Currently organised by a very informal group of volunteers, in meet up’s around Sheffield, boards or blades are welcome to attend. Check out their Instagram @queerskatesheff for more information.
Trans Active is a social group for trans and non-binary people in and around Sheffield. Their aim is to provide a relaxed space where trans and non-binary people can socialise and improve their fitness and mental wellbeing through sport. Their current offer includes weekly swimming sessions for trans and non-binary people, and monthly activities which are also open to cisgender friends/ family/ partners.
If you’re looking for non – sport based activities to meet fellow LGBTQ+ folk, then read on.
Out Aloud are Sheffield’s LGBT+ choir with over 80 members and have been going strong since 2006. They’re open to anyone from the LGBT+ community with no auditions. Out Aloud’s mission is to sing to build pride and resilience, and to educate people about the LGBT+ community. Singing everything from pop to madrigals, they have performed in Paris, Dublin and London and are regulars at Pride. You can also find them giving a free concert every Christmas in Sheffield’s Winter Gardens and performing at civic events.
E.D.E.N Film Productions facilitate film making courses for LGBTQ+ people
E.D.E.N Film productions are a brilliant social enterprise based in Sheffield who offer online and in-person filmmaking workshops for the LGBTQ+ community, producing short and feature films, as well as running events such as trans film festival, Transforming Cinema. Head to their website to find out about free upcoming courses.
Another ace way to meet fellow queer people is at Sheffield Zine Festival. This annual one – day festival showcases queer and margnialised voices making print and zines on all sorts of topics, and is a brilliant way to unearth hidden stories. Although on hiatus owing to the pandemic, they are always up for hearing from folk who’d like to get involved and help support future editions.
For those aged 11 – 25, SAYiT, offer activities and support groups for LGBT+ young people, supporting their emotional wellbeing. LGBT Sheffield is a volunteer-led charity attempting to give Sheffield a unique, centralised and shared LGBT identity, and can signpost LGBT+ people to specific services that may be on offer.
So that concludes this Alternative LGBTQ+ Guide to Sheffield. It is by no means comprehensive, but hopefully has given you some inspiration or helped you discover something new. Happy exploring!
As part of Centre zine, we chose to highlight the Stop the Scandal Campaign. This grassroots campaign was created by Yorkshire’s Racial Justice Network and supported by Yorkshire Resists. They wrote the following piece for our new zine, which is on sale now. 50% of profits from sales of Centre zine, will be donated to the Racial Justice Network. Read on to find out more about Stop the Scandal.
The Stop The Scan campaign challenges a move initiated by West Yorkshire Police in 2019 to introduce mobile fingerprint scanning linked to immigration databases, using equipment funded by the Home Office.
These biometric devices are used with officers’ mobile phones, as they detain people in the street. This adds an extra, dangerous dimension to Stop and Search protocol, which according to the government’s own research, disproportionately targets Black and Brown people (with Black people 10 times more likely to be targeted by police¹).
The technology is used once police officers have deemed an offence to have been committed. This could be anything from loitering to dropping litter. If the officer doubts the given identity from the person detained, they may then use a scan of their fingerprints in order to carry out a person search on their identity. It’s crucial to emphasise that an officer uses their own discretion to determine how authentic your given identity is, a subjective judgement, which in the campaign’s view, has the potential to even further discriminate against trans people within Black and Brown communities.
Scans like this have only previously been carried out at police stations following an arrest. But what future lies ahead, where one’s dignity is stripped down and reduced to the opinion of a police officer, and a frequently inconclusive fingerprint machine?
The officer may choose to check identity against records held on IABS (the immigration fingerprint database). Stop and Scan is part of an immigration system that a 2019 inquiry into the Windrush scandal showed, to hold not only “poor quality systems and data”, but a “failure to monitor the impact of compliant environment measures” (now known as hostile environment measures)². A flag on the database – which could exist for any type of activity – may prompt a call to Home Office enforcers, heightening the risk of entering indefinite detention, or being deported.
The question remains: why use a device which could only identify those with fingerprints either on the IABS or criminal database, IDENT1?
The Stop The Scan campaign was created by the Racial Justice Network and supported by Yorkshire Resists. We are a network of individuals and organisations working together to end racial injustice. Our campaign is about alerting you to the racist nature of the intrusive power that biometric technology extends to the police. These technologies are being introduced, but they lack any meaningful scrutiny of their impact on the communities that the police are supposed to protect.
After the pilot by West Yorkshire Police ended, no evaluation of its use and impact was done before the technology was rolled out nationally.
Aside from West Yorkshire Police, no other police force is publicly recording the ethnicity of the people they are stopping and scanning. The lack of transparency makes it difficult to ensure that the use of this technology does not target certain communities unfairly.
In response to what we know, and what we can only speculate, the Stop the Scan campaign is calling for:
The dismantling of the Hostile Environment: the UK must be a safe place for all people to seek and live a decent life.
The severance of all links between the Police and Immigration, including a firewall between the police and all Home Office databases.
An end to Stop and Scan.
We are looking for support from people able to help raise awareness, to advise on the shifting legal rights landscape during the pandemic, for advisors who may help construct a legal challenge to the roll out, and for people who have been scanned and are willing to offer their experience as a case study.
To find out more, visit StopTheScan.co.uk and search the #StopTheScandal and #EndStopAndScan hashtags. To get involved in supporting the work, email stopthescan@racialjusticenetwork.co.uk.
Next month we launch our new zine CENTRE, with a special online event, REYT QUEER NIGHT IN, to bring our community together. And of course queer culture will be served up front and centre!
Darren Pritchard
Part of our offer is a Vogue dance workshop with Mama Ghetto aka Darren Pritchard. Darren is a performer, choreographer, producer and director. He is also a celebrated Vogue performer and Mother of the House of Ghetto Manchester. We’re thrilled he can join us to teach some Vogue moves and flair via Zoom!
Darren says ‘Vogue is important to me, because it embraces my love of dance, my love of QTIPOC culture and allows me to be me and who ever else I want to be. Through the ballroom culture as a Mother I have seen people grow and develop and do things they thought they could never do’.
Manchester’s House of Ghetto have made their name in the Manchester Vogue ball scene with tight choreography performed solely by Black female dancers. House of Ghetto also feature in documentary ‘Deep in Vogue‘, which examines the North West’s Vogue ball scene, and which premiered at BFI Flare in 2019. Darren has produced Vogue Balls throughout the UK including Manchester’s first Black Pride Vogue Ball as part of 2019’s Manchester Pride. Read more about the House of Ghetto and Darren here.
Christian Adore will be leading a PARTY EYES makeup workshop! Photo. Ndrika Anyika.
Our REYT QUEER NIGHT IN is about having fun with your community, so before getting your vogue on with Mama Ghetto, we’re encouraging you to join drag star Christian Adore with his ‘Party Eye’s’ makeup workshop, for all genders. Because remember, makeup has *no* gender! Its bound to be an irreverent and joyful way to get ready for your queer party at home!
DJ Xzan will be performing a live DJ set!
Finally, we’re super excited that DJ Xzan, will be performing a live DJ set 9 – 11pm bringing the party direct to your front room. They’ll be playing a high energy set with plenty queer pop party anthems to help you share in the queer joy. DJ Xzan aka Xandice Armah is an open format DJ from London and co founder of Gal Pals, the LGBTQ+ dance party centring womxn and excellent pop music. Xzan has supported the likes of Big Freedia, JD Samson, Anna Clavi, MNEK and Mabel, as well as playing at Glastonbury on the Sisterhood Stage.
All those who pre order a copy of CENTRE will get sent a link to the DJ set for free, but if you want to join us from 7pm, you’ll need to get your ticket via Tickets For Good. Sliding scale prices to suit all budgets are available! We hope you can join us on the 10th October, serving your best party looks, and bask in the queer joy!
CENTRE will be available on our online shop for pre sale on the 1st October and posted out around REYT QUEER NIGHT IN on 10th October. The zine is a collaboration with artist Okocha Obasi and created using Arts Council England’s COVID-19 Emergency Funding.
We are sorry to say we will not be returning to host live, in – person events until Spring 2021 at the earliest. We have taken this decision in light of the ongoing situation with COVID-19 and the need to plan ahead as best we can.
As a queer – led social enterprise, which means we put people before profit, and care of the most vulnerable and marginalised at our heart, we cannot see a scenario in which we can bring properly safe and inclusive events to our community until next year. We know many of you, like us, are struggling with anxiety about returning to any sort of normal, and we recognise that we need to adapt.
We have spoken at length with our partner venues about the measures in place to maintain social distancing, and keep audiences and workers safe. Sadly, the capacities allowed in venues would in no way enable us to cover the costs of producing the events we have become known for. We also have the health and wellbeing of our artists, staff team and volunteers to consider. A Reyt Queer Do and The Kingdom Come are meant to be joyous and cosy events. We would rather wait and bring these events back when it feels much safer to do so. Right now, we couldn’t in good faith, host live events indoors when so many people are still shielding, or taking extra precautions to protect those around them.
The crowd at A Reyt Queer Do 3, no social distancing needed back in 2019.
Under lockdown we are proud to have continued to support queer artists, delivering a range of creative activity and developing talent in the North of England. It’s been been wonderful to see new and familiar faces at our online workshops. We will be applying for more funding to continue to adapt our offer during these challenging times.
We know this has been a tough time for so many. We plan both to continue to offer online and remote activity, and take time to develop the organisation. We may start hosting in person workshops in Spring 2021, but we also realise there are many unknowns.
We’ve got plenty plans in the pipeline and will share those with you as soon as we can. If you’d like to support our work you can do so by donating via our website. Your support ensures we can continue to support LGBTQ+ artists in these difficult times.
Our new zine, CENTRE, will be launching in October, so make sure you’ve signed up to our newsletter to be the first to get your hands on a copy and hear about a special online event to mark the occasion.
We can’t wait to return with a bang when it is safe to do so. Till then, we hope you can join us online soon.
This summer we’re very aware that many LGBTQ+ people will be missing the annual Pride celebrations, places where communities can come together and feel free, standing up for what matters to them.
We’re also aware that as event organisers, we can’t physically bring people together. That is why we are collaborating with artist Okocha Obasi to create a zine. Obasi is a graphic designer and recent graduate from Leeds Arts University, and the creator of the RACEZINE COLLECTIVE whose aim is to platform creatives of colour. RACEZINE COLLECTIVE has produced projects include a non-profit zine, performance events and infamous club night TONGUE N TEETH.
Through our collaboration we’re launching the new zine ‘Centre’. The hope is that this can act as method to connect folx across the North of England and provide visibility and a voice to our queer community, particularly those often marginalised.
So with that in mind, here’s what you need to know about our latest project!
CENTRE: A new zine
What’s at your centre? What matters most? What are your hopes for the future, and how is this informed by who you are?
CENTRE is about centering untold stories. We want responses from all ages, and all walks of life, but are particularly interesting in hearing and documenting Queer and QTIBPOC stories in the North of England. We’re also keen to hear from LGBTQIA folx identifying as neurodiverse, deaf or disabled.
We’re looking for responses in the form of: Letters, personals stories, personal historical materials, recipes, interviews, art, comics, drawings, prints, paintings, spoken word, intergenerational collaborations, short stories and anything else that you want to share with the world.
To submit something all you need to do is complete our Google form and attach your submission there. If you have any issues using tech, or need extra support, drop us a line and we’ll do our best to help you.
Deadline for applications is midday on Monday 10th August.
We cannot guarantee that all work submitted will make it into the published zine, however we may (with your permission) publish your work on our website instead.
The zine will be published in the Autumn and launched with a special online event. More details to be announced!
Next week we’re producing our first online version of our drag king workshops, and collaborating with Christian Adore to do so.
This 3 week course is designed to give participants tools needed to make an original drag character, and have some fun exploring what can be done with them! This short video gives you a good idea of what the workshops will involve and a sense of what Christian Adore is all about!
Workshops take place at 7.30pm GMT on the 8th, 15th and 22nd July. We might not be physically gathering in Sheffield, but there’ll be plenty Yorkshire charm!
Booking for each workshop closes at 10am the day before in order that participants have time to prepare the materials they need and get the Zoom link from us.
Sliding scale tickets available and free bursaries for those with restrictive incomes. Contact us if you’d like a free place. Or book now to get in on all the fun!
Ready to take your act to the next level? Want some space to get inspired and learn new skills? This 8 – week online course is designed to give you the tools to develop material for your own drag or cabaret act, and build your confidence. Award winning actor, writer and drag king LoUis CYfer of Korupt Kabuki, will lead 4 interactive sessions and provide mentoring for participants.
Aimed at emerging drag and cabaret acts looking for a creative challenge, our Cabaret College is about developing talent in the North of England. The course will give some context for the history of cabaret and drag, share a host of creative techniques for generating original material, and prepare participants for live performance in a safe and supportive environment.
It is an ideal follow on for people who have already participated in our previous drag king king workshops. It is also well suited to drag queens or other cabaret acts in need of space to create new material.
Sessions will happen on a fortnightly basis with set tasks to work on in between, to then share with the group. Each participant will receive a small amount of one to one mentoring with LoUis CYfer to assist with and support any challenges participants may need to work through.
By the end of the course each participant will have
A clearer sense of their drag character or cabaret act.
Created their own original material.
Understand how to work an audience.
Places on this course are limited in order to provide the best possible learning experience for participants. It is expected that participants will already have a drag or cabaret character devised. Places will be prioritised for those living in Yorkshire or the North of England. Free bursaries are available to QTIBPOC in order to provide better representation in the UK drag and cabaret scene.
To secure a place on the course, please apply via our simple Google form by 5pm on Thursday 30 July. Successful applicants will be notified the following week.
Please note, this course is about generating original material and performing live. It is expected that participants will use their own voice through speech or song. Fees for the full course are £25 for General. £10 for Low Income. £50 for Solidarity. This pricing is made possible through funding from Arts Council England.
Course Details WEEK 1 – 19 August
Covering the history of cabaret and drag and its relevance to a modern audience. Looking at your character and how they relate to the audience, covering all the basics to getting started!
WEEK 2 – 2 September
Introducing you to a whole range of techniques to help you generate original material and find the form that suits your own strengths and skills.
WEEK 3 – 16 September
Exploring how to respond to current events / contemporary society and generating material that has something to say. Unlocking your voice and using it to create innovative and entertaining material.
WEEK 4 – 30 September
This final session is all about audience engagement. Learning how to play with the audience and make them part of your set; and even how to manage hecklers!
We look forward to receiving your application! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via our contact form.
We’re happy to announce that we have received Emergency Funding* from Arts Council England to help keep us going and provide a programme of online and remote activity over the next 6 months.
Since cancelling our last event in March owing to COVID-19, we’ve been working hard to adapt to the new climate. We’ve also been trying not to panic at the possibility that the sort of live events we create *may* not be safe to organise until 2021. Our future looked, at best, risky. For that reason we’ve reached out to queer artists in order to generate a programme of activity that will support and uplift our community through these challenging times.
This funding enables us to continue our talent development strand for emerging artists. This will compromise both online workshops for complete beginners led by drag king and musical improv expert, Christian Adore, and a more in depth ‘Cabaret College’ for acts wanting to push their skills and learn how to devise their own material. The latter will be led by actor, writer and drag star Lucy Jane Parkinson, aka Louis CyFer.
Christian Adore will lead ‘Drag king workshops’ for beginners
Alongside the talent development, we realise there is a need to connect with and hear the voices of the wider LGBTQ+ community and queer artists. To do this we will be creating a special zine both as a documentation of this strange time and a way to connect that does not rely on digital technology. This project will be led on by Leeds -based artist Okocha Obasi in collaboration with emerging producer Emma Bentley – Fox.
The zine will feature the voices of queer writers and artists alongside work submitted by members of the community who want to share their thoughts / dreams / ideas. We’ll print and distribute and launch with a special online launch party featuring queer performers and DJ set for indoor dancing. Along with this programme the funding will help us redevelop our website, and support staff time to ready the organisation for next steps.
We’re very thankful that we can continue to provide unique opportunities to ‘come together’ through queer culture and look forward to connecting with you all again. We’re also aware, however, that there are many great people and organisations that did not get this funding. It is one of the reasons why we will continue to make our work as accessible as possible and centre those otherwise marginalised.
In the meantime, we have set up a donation form on our website. All donations directly support our work in supporting queer artists and our community. We don’t know when we’ll be able to physically be in the same space again, (though currently we have no plans for physical events until beyond October). Your support ensures that when we can return to physical events, we’ll be back better than ever before.
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Team Andro & Eve x
** Funding received – £10,900.
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