We’re delighted to announce the appointment of two new board members. Lola White and Ellie Wyer join Andro and Eve founder and CEO, Katherine Warman, as Directors of the board and have been in post as Directors for nearly 3 months.
Lola White
They bring to the organisation a robust set of skills and knowledge in HR, finance, partnerships and organisational development in both the private and public sectors.
Ellie Wyer
Katherine Warman CEO of Andro and Eve says ‘I’m delighted that Ellie and Lola are now part of Andro & Eve as they bring a wealth of expertise that will help develop the organisation. At such a challenging time for the culture sector, we are working hard to respond to the situation we find ourselves in, and are planning ways to adapt our delivery model’.
Andro and Eve celebrates 4 years producing events to celebrate queer culture this week, so we’re very pleased to be able to share this news with you. To find out more about our board and team, head here.
Happy LGBT+ History Month! Its been very busy the last 6 months at Andro & Eve, so we thought it was high time we gave you all an update on what’s been going on!
In November we hosted our first Drag King Workshop Weekend in collaboration with award winning drag king Louis Cyfer, and founder of the Women’s Comedy Network, Natalie Diddams at our partner venue, Theatre Deli Sheffield. (Sidenote: Go support their fundraiser to support this brilliant indie arts space!)
13 participants from across the North of England and the Midlands joined us to learn skills in makeup, character development, gender as performance and creating comedic material, with an informal sharing at the end of the weekend. Feedback from participants was very positive, and we gained a lot of insight into what worked, and where we could push this talent development further. Comments from participants included;
‘I liked the thought, love and organisation that went into the weekend, it was wonderful. I felt very safe and cared for’.
‘I learnt it’s okay to take time and to take up space’.
Jason Andrew treated us to some vogue dance at Cast.
A few days after our Drag King Weekender we headed over to Cast in Doncaster for our first Donny event, A Reyt Northern edition of queer cabaret, A Reyt Queer Do. Louis Cyfer was back for hosting duties with performances by House of Ghetto’s Jason Andrew, and up and coming talents, Ding Frisby, Spent Reznor and Donny Lad. An audience of 60 people turned out and we were thrilled with the support, and to meet so many new faces. There was a lot of laughter in the room that night, and the 6 weeks of outreach work in the run up to the event clearly paid off. Thanks to Cast for their support in developing our audience! Doncaster folk commented
‘Thanks for an amazing night, it made hump day bright and beautiful’.
Rapper Bad Lay – Dee
We rounded off November with a big queer party and cabaret back at Theatre Deli with A Reyt Queer Do 5. This ‘Shine Like a Diamond’ edition was hosted by non – binary rapper Bad Lay Dee with performances by poet Maz Hedgehog, theatre maker Victoria Firth and drag kings Sveto Slava and Dickhead Dave Debonair. DJ Chardine Taylor – Stone from punk band Big Joanie ensured everyone got a chance to raise the roof once the performances were done.
In January we collaborated with DocFest to produce a cosy film screening at Yellow Arch. We chose to screen the brilliant documentary SILVANA, about Swedish rapper Silvana Imam, after seeing this film at Doc/Fest in 2018. The film follows Imam’s rise to fame, her experience as an immigrant in Sweden and new romance with Swedish lesbian pop star, Beatrice Eli. Cake and cosy vibes were enjoyed by all, and we think it’s is fair to say most of the audience fell hard for this lesbian power duo!
Silvana Imam and Beatrice Eli giving face
In between running all these events we successfully recruited a new Assistant Producer, Emma, who brings with her a wealth of marketing and event experience. We’ve also had some fab new volunteers join the team and been recruiting a new board of directors (more news on that coming soon) and planning our events for 2020.
Currently, Andro & Eve is featured in a new exhibition to celebrate LGBT+ History Month at Sheffield’s Central Library. It’s great to see this sort of visibility and recognition, especially at a time when mainstream media seems intent on sowing division between different communities.
We’re also gearing up for our biggest drag king cabaret to date, The Kingdom Come on 21st March at Abbeydale Picture House. It’s going to be a special Under the Sea Edition! Hosted by star on the rise Christian Adore and featuring a line up of ridiculously hot and talented drag kings, its going to be a night to remember.
Christian Adore is headed to Sheffield. Hold onto your hats!
We’re forever grateful for those in our community who have gone before, making space for the LGBT+ community to come together, and are proud to be continuing this work. But we know only too well how precarious the creation of queer friendly spaces are. Want to support your LGBT+ community now and help us continue this work? Then nab a ticket and come feel the mer love at The Kingdom Come! See you then!
A special thanks to all those who continue to support our work, giving their time, money or expertise to help us grow, and Arts Council England for funding much of the work of the last 6 months.
We won an Award!! Last month at Cinema For All’s 2018 Film Society of the Year Awards we won in the BEST SINGLE EVENT category for our screening themed around Sekiya Dorsett’s film THE REVIVAL: WOMEN AND THE WORD. You can read more about what happened at that event in January 2018 on our blog here.
Andro & Eve co-founders Rhiannon and Katherine with the award!
We’re really grateful to Cinema for All for this award – Thank you! Big thanks also to Jade Foster and Sekiya Dorsett for making this brilliant film. We want to say a huge thank you to Ella Otomewo Poet and DYLEMA for performing their poetry at our event, and massive love to Rainbow Noir and Our Mel who we collaborated with in creating the night. Finally, our sincerest thanks to our amazing volunteers who help us run special events like this, and you, our audience, for supporting what we do. Here’s to more awesome film screenings in future!
Ella Otomewo performs at the event ‘ The Revival: Women and the Word’ January 2018
This week saw us produce our first in a new party series, called A Reyt Queer Do. With music, food, dancing and drag kings, we brought together a diverse group of people for a very fun night full of queer festive cheer.
Hosted by king Sammy Silver, (see photo above) the night was all about giving new drag kings a chance to try out their acts in front of an audience. And what an audience it was! So much cheering, clapping and general enthusiasm, us Northerners really gave a fine welcome to the talent.
Tofu Weiner is so chill his hair goes horizontal..
Making their debut were Sheffield – based Tofu Weiner and Crispin Creame, supported by fellow Yorkshire king, Jack Strap. Zayn Phallic, fresh from the London scene, whipped the crowd into a frenzy, while Sammy Silver charmed the socks off everyone with his warm hosting style.
Zayn Phallic: living his best life
The vegan and veggie tapas went down a treat, and The Old Workshop looked lush, with added handmade festive decor, from yours truly. Our audience had really made an effort, with many people in drag, some so well put together, they could have been mistaken for one of the performers! After the cabaret we danced the night away, with many not wanting to leave. It was brilliant.
The Old Workshop was jam packed with fabulous folk!
We just want to say a huge thank you to all the drag kings for their energy, and in particular, well done to the new kings, who were so brave to perform to a packed venue. HUGE thanks to our new volunteers; it was great to have more support in running the event. And finally, a massive thank you to our audience, for your enthusiasm and generosity. Through our Christmas raffle and donations through Tickets for Good, you helped us raise £109 towards our accessible fund. This is wonderful and will help us fulfil our aim of bringing in discounted ticket prices for those on low incomes for our events in 2018.
We’re thrilled to be ending 2017 on SUCH a high. YAAAASSSS! We can’t wait for our next event – The Revival: Women and The Word on 27 January. See you there!
PS: We’ll be posting more pics of A Reyt Queer Do #1 on Facebook, probably before the year is out. ‘Like’ our page to get notified as soon as they go up. But here’s few highlights below! Here’s wishing you a restful and happy festive break.
Andro & Eve co founders, Rhiannon and Katherine, love a pair of braces..TEAR IT OFF CRISPIN! TEAR IT OFF! Crispin Creame gets mansformed.Jack Strap, with fresh tat, on the mic.
And here’s our beautiful audience, having a reyt good time!
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