queer sheffield – Page 4

Our Sliding Scale Tickets

19th September 201919th September 2019 by androandeve

For the last 18 months we’ve offered sliding scale tickets for for all our events. This has been made possible through generous donations by our community when buying tickets, our limited edition pin badges, or through our fantastic raffles! (Huge thanks to the local Sheffield businesses, who have donated their goods towards this)*. We believe that everyone should have access to fantastic live performance, and feel welcome in warm, accessible spaces where they can be part of their community.

We’re really pleased to say that our Arts Council funding is enabling us to add more options, so a wider range of people can enjoy our live events. Our next event at Theatre Deli will use these ticket bands, so we ask you to be honest with yourself and your financial situation when buying tickets – that way those who really need the discounted tickets will benefit from the reduction in costs. A fuller description of each ticket band is below.

Huge thanks to Leeds Queer Film Festival who originally inspired us to introduce sliding scale ticket prices, who in turn adapted their ticket bands from The Green Bottle Sliding Scale by Califia Collective (califiacollective.org). A massive thanks also to the Andro and Eve Community who continue to contribute to our Pay it Forward Ticket Fund as well as the excellent Tickets For Good who have supported us throughout and whose booking fees support good causes. Everyone mentioned has helped make it the success it is, just keep at it! Queer solidarity forever! x

* Thanks to Birdhouse Tea Company, Pip and Peel, Truffle Pig Vegan, Cocoa Mester, Beer Central, Hard Times Vegan, Zeds, Our Fave Places, Showroom Cinema, Sheffield Theatres.

A New Phase…

26th May 20219th September 2019 by androandeve

We are very excited to announce that less than a year since becoming a not for profit arts organisation, we have received funding from Arts Council England to support an exciting programme of work for Autumn 2019 – Spring 2020.

Our events continue to grow in scale and ambition, with the last, a drag king cabaret at Abbeydale Picture House, attracting an audience of 330 people. Building on this success we will produce another drag king cabaret, The Kingdom Come at Abbeydale Picture House in March 2020, along with another edition of queer party and performance series, A Reyt Queer Do at Theatre Deli Sheffield on the 30th November.

The programme will also provide both training and performance opportunities for emerging artists in the Yorkshire region, as well as showcasing some of the UK’s most exciting queer performance. We are also excited to announce a new collaboration with CAST in Doncaster, enabling us to bring our feel good events to Doncaster, with the first such event, A Reyt Queer Do, planned for 13th November and hosted by award winning Drag King Louis Cyfer.

This month also marks a new phase for the organisation, which was originally founded by Rhiannon Scutt and Katherine Warman in 2016 to address the lack of safe, inclusive spaces for the LGBTQ+ community to enjoy queer culture in Sheffield. Having worked together creating queer events over the last three years, Rhiannon is now stepping down as a director of the board, and Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Katherine Warman, supported by the board of directors, will lead the company.

Rhiannon Scutt says ‘It has been a greatly fulfilling experience to nurture Andro & Eve from the seed of an idea and the tiny film night it started out as, to what it has become today. As lesbians in Sheffield, it was important to us that we offer an alternative, gentle night out, where the focus is fun and there is a sense of community. I’m proud to say I think we’ve achieved that time and time again. I wish the team every success, and hope to support Andro & Eve events in the future as an attendee’

Natalie Diddams, Chair of the Andro and Eve board says, ‘we’re so grateful for the hard work and vital input Rhiannon has given to the organisation over the last three years. It’s been a pleasure working with Rhiannon and we wish her all the best with her future projects. We’re excited by the programme of work and confident that the plans we have, will help grow the community benefitting from our events to celebrate queer culture’.

We are also thrilled to announce a weekend of drag king performance workshops on the 9th – 10th November at Theatre Deli Sheffield. Participants will then have the opportunity to apply to perform at either CAST or Theatre Deli in one of the open mic slots showcasing new queer performance. The introduction of a Pay It Forward Ticket scheme in 2018 has enabled an increasing amount of audience members to attend events who may not otherwise have been able to access them, using donations from the public to support the scheme. The funding received will help support this provision of discounted and free tickets for those on lower incomes, as well as enhance accessibility for deaf and disabled audiences.

Katherine Warman comments, ‘It’s been an honour to work alongside Rhiannon the last three years and I’m so proud of what the team and we have achieved. The demand for our work is clear, with so many of our events in the last 18 months selling out in advance. I’m excited that this funding will help us work towards our vision to put South Yorkshire on the map for arts that explore LGBTQ+ lives, nurturing artists and the community we serve’

A Night of Electric Dreams…

17th July 20193rd April 2019 by androandeve

On the 16th February 2019 we came to parrrrty at Theatre Deli Sheffield with A Reyt Queer Do: Electric Dreams Edition. This queer party was hosted by Louis Cyfer with queer performance from new acts including drag kings Jamie Pizazz and King Kitt and also featured drag star on the rise, Christian Adore. Hearing the whole audience join in with Louis Cyfer’s rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody was blummin brilliant.

The crowd did not disappoint with outfits to keep your eyes popping for days, some full 80’s glam / punk / new romantic / pop realness, others dragged it up to the nines. After the queer performance (and plenty cake, courtesy of Kelham Island Kitchen), Chardine Taylor Stone ramped up the sound and the sparkly dance floor was full.

Huge thanks to all the performers for bringing such talent and energy, to Theatre Deli for their support of our work and being lovely hosts and to Chardine Taylor Stone for the tunes. We’re eternally appreciative of our fantastic volunteers, without who, our night’s would not be the same, and of course those who came and shared in the queer joy, creating such a fab night for everyone. Until next time!

Open Mic Slots: A Reyt Queer Do

3rd February 20198th January 2019 by androandeve

Heard about our next event? A Reyt Queer Do: Electric Dreams Edition is on Saturday 16th February at Theatre Deli Sheffield, and is the 80’s themed queer party you’ve been waiting for! And now its your chance to perform in front of our friendly and supportive audience…

Drag King Louis Cyfer will be hosting a stage for queer performance within this event, and we have several open mic slots available for new acts, or new work you want to test out in front of a live audience. 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 £20 reimburse travel expenses.

To apply for one of our open mic slots, please send us

The name of your act
A short bio about you (where are you based, experience, a tagline for your act)
A 2 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.

Deadline to apply: 10am Wednesday 30th January. 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.

We won an Award!

31st January 20193rd October 2018 by androandeve

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.

42806092620_07b328d612_h — *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!

_V3A4762 — *Ella Otomewo performs at the event ‘ The Revival: Women and the Word’ January 2018*

Announcing: Queer Hub!

31st January 201921st June 2018 by androandeve

We’re excited to bring news of the Queer Hub. On Wednesday 18th July 5.30 – 7pm at Theatre Deli Sheffield. What’s a Queer Hub you may ask? Well, this session is aimed at people who have been to one or more Andro & Eve events. The Queer Hub is a place for the Andro & Eve audience and volunteers to feedback on their experiences and help shape an exciting programme of queer arts events that Andro & Eve are currently planning! (Subject to funding). Join us for a facilitated discussion with food and friendly vibes exploring –

– What films/ artists / performers do you want to see programmed in future?
– How can we make Andro & Eve events even more accessible?
– Are there other queer arts projects you’d like to see / make happen in Sheffield?

Places are free but limited in order to make this a productive and accessible session. Please come with ideas and energy! Find out more and reserve your ticket for FREE by clicking here.

A Reyt Queer Do: Birthday Edition!

6th January 202331st May 2018 by natalie@rainbowwebservices.co.uk

Earlier this month we celebrated two years of Andro & Eve with a special edition of A Reyt Queer Do. It was nearly two years to the day that we first screened But I’m a Cheerleader in Cafe 9, Sheffield, and we marked the occasion with a night of drag king cabaret, cake and queer joy.

*Drag King Oliver Assets – stoney faced guy.*

We transformed Broomhall Community Centre with our trademark handmade decorations and we were happy to welcome new and familiar faces to the venue. One of our audience stating ‘the decorations were like something out of a dreamy retro prom dance’. Yasss!

The vegan cake sold out super quick, and no less than eight drag kings performed, some for the first time. Host Zayn Phallic gave everyone life with his 90’s pop themed act. A humble leaf blower brought all the drama, conjuring up Michael Jackson’s Earth Song in the best possible way.

Zayn2 — *Zayn Phallic, host and King of the 90’s…*

As always we want say a big thank you to our volunteers, who work so hard to make our events run smoothly. Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket and supported the night, and to the kings for sharing their drag acts. We’re also grateful to Broomhall Community Centre for the use of their hall.

This was our last event before the summer break but we’ll be popping up at various events over the summer, including DocFest next week! We’re working hard behind the scenes on the next steps for Andro and Eve. Make sure you’ve signed up to our mailing list to be the first to hear all the news from us!

Here’s some more snaps of our audience and drag kings…

Extra — *Fact: More people leave with a fake moustache than arrive at Andro & Eve events..*

Meet The Locals!

26th May 20212nd May 2018 by natalie@rainbowwebservices.co.uk

We’re reyt chuffed to have been featured on the revamped Our Favourite Places, in their ‘Meet The Locals’ section. In case you’ve not comes across it, Our Fave Places, is an online Sheffield Culture guide that features all you need to know when planning a visit to the Steel City. With the lowdown on everything from exhibitions to pubs, theatre, music, coffee shops, film screenings to unique events, all written by in – the – know Sheffielders. The new Meet The Local’s section is a great way to find out about the people creating things and making good stuff happen in Sheffield.

They say, ‘An immediate success, Andro and Eve’s events were clearly just the kind of thing the city’s LGBTQ+ community and their friends were hungry for – friendly, positive, and above all lots of fun’.

Read the full interview here.

The Kingdom Come #3

20th March 2018 by natalie@rainbowwebservices.co.uk

On Saturday 10th March we brought The Kingdom Come back to Walkley Community Centre for it’s third outing and what a night it was. The event sold out well in advance and our enthusiastic audience certainly made the effort, turning up with more beards than we’ve ever seen before. Ginger? Crochet? Rainbow? Yep, they were seen at The Kingdom Come 3, along with some incredible outfits too.

_V3A7523 — *Yes this person did crochet this beard. They also had a ‘realistic’ brown crochet version!!*

That’s just the audience. The line up of drag kings left us all gasping for breath with their hilarious and thought provoking drag acts. Luke Warm was the perfect host, charming the socks off the audience, getting them *really* involved and utilising a random glockenspiel to great effect.

*Luke Warm creates drama with our raffle*

Richard Von Wild treated us to some super lip syncing and his Tony Stark was hella realistic.

*Richard Von Wild as Tony Stark, Disney Princess style..*

Sigi Moonlight took us to the movies with his dramatic drag, while highlighting the issue of diverse representation in mainstream film with an act where he transformed into the Oscars statue.

_V3A7969 — *Sigi Moonlight serenades with ukulele*

Joey Bambino floored us with his Silence of the Lambs themed act which was fantastically funny and creepy in equal measure.

*Joey Bambino wasn’t expecting it to be quite so cold in South Yorkshire..*

Lastly, but by no means least, Oedipussi returned to The Kingdom Come to save the day, stepping into the large gap left by a poorly Zayn Phallic. Oedipussi’s costumes get bigger and more fantastical every time, delighting the audience and even managing to give one of them their own striped beard. #sharethelove.

*Oedipussi; ‘has anyone seen a stick on eye? Think I’ve lost one’*

The vegan cake went faster than you could say ‘I follow a plant based diet’ and the raffle was a hit, with our generous audience raising £184 towards our accessible ticket fund. This is brilliant, as we will be able to provide more tickets for those on low incomes at our next event.

_V3A8377 — *Luke Warm quite literally warms up the crowd!*

We want to say a huge thank you to our wonderful volunteers who helped the night run like clockwork, we’re so grateful for those that give their time to help Andro & Eve develop. And of course thank you to Luke Warm, Oedipussi, Richard Von Wild, Joey Bambino and Sigi Moonlight for travelling to Sheffield and performing for us.

re-edit_V3A9081 — *Clockwise from top left, Oedipussi, Joey Bambino, Richard Von Wild, Sigi Moonlight, Luke Warm*

Thanks also to Walkley Community Centre for letting us use their lovely venue, and SheFest for providing funding to support accessibly priced tickets. Lastly thank you, awesome audience, for turning out, dressed up and ready to cheer on our drag kings. You made it a night to remember.

_V3A9249 — *Some of the audience felt so inspired they couldn’t help but werk onstage at the end!*

_V3A8434 — *Yet more strong beard action from our audience..*

Women and The Word

6th January 20236th February 2018 by natalie@rainbowwebservices.co.uk

On Saturday 27 January we curated and produced a special event in Sheffield focused around the film, The Revival: Women and The Word, directed by Sekiya Dorsett. We originally saw this documentary at SQIFF in 2016 and fell for its warmth, humour, honesty, and unique perspective on an often overlooked part of the LGBTQIA community. The film follows a group of Black lesbian poets on a salon style tour of the US organised by creative force and entrepreneur Yaani Supreme fka Jade Foster.

Revival_6 — *Jonquille Rice aka Solsis and Bea Steadwell. Credit: The Revival: Women and the Word*

Documentaries like this allow you to imagine a different world, one where Black, queer womanhood is centered, celebrated and given space to breathe. We felt it was important to not only show the film, but make sure the Black British community was celebrated, while giving our audience a taste of the talent that exists within the UK, by showcasing poets of colour on this side of the Atlantic.

To do this we worked closely with Manchester’s Rainbow Noir and Sheffield’s Our Mel to programme artists, and help Andro and Eve reach new audiences. We cannot praise Rainbow Noir’s organisers enough for their generosity and support of our aims for this event. It was also awesome to work with another grassroots organisation in Sheffield, through Our Mel, and realise we have many of the same ambitions of creating special events where our communities feel free to express themselves.

As massive lovers of zines and indie publishing we also curated a stall selling the words of women of colour.

The event sold out a week in advance, and on the night over 70 people from across the UK turned out to our specially chosen, (and secret) Sheffield venue to enjoy the evening. As ever, we were thrilled that so many people had made the journey out on a cold night to attend, and we want to say thank you for those who supported our work in this way.

_V3A4588 — *Some of our wonderful audience!*

Thanks also to all the people who have been contributing to our accessible ticket fund. This was the first event where we were able to offer discounted ticket prices for those on low incomes, and we can say it certainly encouraged some new faces to attend.

_V3A4818 — *DYLEMA (Do You. Let Every Man Adapt).*

The poets, Ella Otomewo, from Manchester and DYLEMA from East London, performed their captivating poems after the film, making quite an impression on our audience and us. It was so rewarding to listen to the comments from those that had gathered together for this event, and realise the hard work had paid off.

We’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking, but special thanks should go to Rainbow Noir, Our Mel, LAS Sheffield, QTIPOC Notts, Enjoy Your Homes Press, our fabulous volunteers, and last but no means least, photographer Ndrika Anyika, whose images you see in this post.