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theatre deli sheffield

where will we pop up next?

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A Black, androgynous person stands on the right hand side of small stage speaking on a microphone. They are wearing a black tee with the words 'Bad Lay Dee' in white letters and black jeans. Their hair is short and bleached. On the right hand side of the stage is a BSL interpreter who is gesturing. She has cropped bleach blonde hair and is white. She wears a black hoodie and blue jeans. Behind the stage is a patterned pink curtain with warm white lightbulb surrounding, and Theatre Deli painted in white letters.

Last week you may have seen the news that Theatre Deli Sheffield have been served notice to leave by their landlord. As Andro and Eve’s key partner organisation, this news also has a big impact on us. We wanted to provide some clarity on where we’re at. 

Theatre Deli’s business model is based on ‘meanwhile use’ of buildings, meaning they get to occupy buildings for cheaper rates than commercial lets, but usually with a 30 day notice period to vacate. That’s why they will be gone from their current building on Eyre street by the start of January. 

Although Theatre Deli plan to find new premises, this could take some time.

Use of Theatre Deli Sheffield formed part of our plans to come back to larger scale live events in 2022 (hello Reyt Queer Do!) so without use of their wonderful, accessible space, we are currently shifting those plans and seeing what alternatives there are. In the last 18 months we’ve loved delivering a whole range of online activity including workshops, panel events and craft socials, along with our zines, Joyful Noise and Centre, but we are also determined to be able to have a larger scale in person offer in the next year. 

Online drag king workshops. July 2020

Sheffield has a long standing problem with provision of accessible, centrally located venues for culture and community activity. If many of the organisations, artists and festivals lose access to Theatre Deli Sheffield owing to those issues, even for a period of 6 months, this has a huge impact on the cultural landscape of the city. 

Theatre Deli Sheffield has made its name by supporting emerging artists, platforming marginalised voices, and making space for communities not otherwise served in the city. We very much hope that new space is found for this treasured venue. 

A Reyt Queer Do, Theatre Deli Sheffield. 2019

For us, they’ve been champions of the work of Andro and Eve since 2017, becoming our partner venue in 2018. We are indebted to the support of the whole team at Deli for making Andro and Eve feel so welcome, and supported. Support that included free venue hire, space for meetings, reviewing funding applications and morale boosting when times got tough. 

We very much hope we can continue this partnership, and that Deli find a suitable venue to carve out space for many communities and artists in Sheffield. However, if there is one thing this pandemic has taught us, it is that we need to be flexible and adapt. So we’re currently reviewing other options for larger events in 2022 in order that we can return with a bang! This means extra work, so timescales will move. It means Andro & Eve needs more time to rejig funding applications. 

Sveto Slava, Reyt Queer Do. Nov 20219

So why are we sharing this? Because we need your support. We are not out of this pandemic. Our business model of producing events and creative opportunities is still precarious, and while we have managed to curate and produce a whole range of activity throughout the last 18 months, we don’t have the resources of a more established organisation. 

So if you can spare funds, we’re asking you to donate. You can do so via the button above. Or buy some of our queer merch! Those donations and sales will help cover our overheads (IT, insurance, licenses, wages, etc) while we apply for more funding to make 2022 a year packed full of joyful queer events. It takes a huge amount of energy to plan, prepare and submit those funding bids, but they are the most effective way to ensure we can return to live events and provide meaningful opportunities for artists and our wonderful community to celebrate queer culture. 

As always, any support given is gratefully received and makes a real and vital difference. Because of you, we’re still here, still queer, still making space. And we’re determined to continue. We hope you enjoy the photos of past events at Theatre Deli Sheffield below!

Big love

Finn 

A crowd of people cheer on a performer out of shot. They are in a warmly lit venue with umbrellas above their heads.
The crowd at Reyt Queer Do 5, at Theatre Deli Sheffield. November 2019
a Black androgynous rapper stands on a small stage holding a pint of beer while speaking into a mic. They have short bleached hair and wear black tee and jeans.A crowd of people seated and standing surrounds the small stage lit with warm lamps
Bad Lay Dee, Reyt Queer Do 5. Nov 2019

On Live Events

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Sister Mary Berry, of drag act, Shesus and the Sisters, wears a hard hat and high vis vest and is squirting an audience member with mist from a bottle looking cheeky.

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.

A crowd, underneath lots of umbrellas hanging from the ceiling at Theatre Deli Sheffield, some seated and a lot standing click their fingers at the live drag artist on stage.
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.

With love and solidarity

Andro and Eve x

Cancelled – The Kingdom Come 6

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It is with deep sadness and heartbreak that we announce the cancellation of The Kingdom Come 6 which was due to take place on Saturday 21 March at Abbeydale Picture House. This event, which would have been our 21st event, is the first event we have cancelled in our 4-year history. We do this in response to the escalation of the coronavirus and its impact on our wider community.

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 felt we must take action on this matter. By cancelling this event we can potentially reduce the amount of people contracting coronavirus, limit the impact of the coronavirus on our already strained NHS, and reduce the impact on public health workers.

As a small organisation with a staff team of one person alongside our team of volunteers, we cannot in good conscience put the health of our team, our artists, or wider community at risk. The board of Andro & Eve have consulted with our team and with our contacts in the arts and business community. This collective decision is not one we have taken lightly, or without much heartache.

Much of that pain comes from the fact that we know what the Andro & Eve events mean to our community, as well as to our artists. We send our love and solidarity to those already affected by coronavirus.

Everyone who bought a ticket is of course entitled to a refund, but if you can afford to, we’d ask you to consider your ticket a donation to help support our vision to bring queer arts and culture to South Yorkshire. Cancelling this event puts our financial security as an organisation at risk.

We rely on our big events such as The Kingdom Come to financially support the running of the organisation the rest of the year. Also, we are well aware of the pressures on freelancers at this time, and this will help us ensure that we can reimburse our artists and crew for fees they will lose, and in recognition for all the hard work they have already put into this event.

If anyone would like to support us at this extremely challenging time, you can by heading to Tickets for Good and buying a ticket for The Kingdom Come, before the 21st March. You can also add a contribution to our Pay it Forward Ticket fund there too. Your donation will be used to ensure we come back stronger and better than ever at a later date.

All those who have bought a ticket for The Kingdom Come will receive a discount on tickets for our next event; we will send a discount code to the email you used to book with, on announcement of the next event. We very much appreciate the support and trust you have placed in us. Details on refunds will also be sent to the email used to book with on Tickets for Good. Alternatively, please email hello@androandeve.com for more information.

We wish to thank our partner venues, Abbeydale Picture House and Theatre Deli Sheffield for their support and guidance in this difficult time. Independent venues and businesses in Sheffield will be at real risk of closure as we move through this health crisis. If you can also donate money towards Theatre Deli Sheffield or Abbeydale Picture House, you can do so via these links.

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/abbeydalepicturehouse

https://www.gofundme.com/f/theatredelisheffieldheatingfund

Finally, over the coming days we will be sharing resources to support our community. If you have any questions or have seen any useful links or resources, we are happy to promote.

For now, Queercare have some excellent resources available including this Google Form if you are in need of extra support at this time.

With love and solidarity

Team Andro & Eve

So What Have We Been up To?

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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.

KW x

New Acts Wanted!

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Could you be the next Wesley Dykes? Got a new act you want to debut? Or test out a scratch performance in front of a friendly and supportive audience?

Open mic slots available

We’re on the look out for new queer performance to fill our open mic slots at our events at Cast in Doncaster on 13 November and Theatre Deli Sheffield on 30 November. We’re committed to developing talent in Yorkshire and hope by offering slots across two nights we’ll be able to programme as much Northern talent as possible.

For A Reyt Queer Do 4: Reyt Northern Edition (13 November) and A Reyt Queer Do: Shine Like a Diamond Edition (30 November) we’re on the lookout for any type / style of queer performance as long as its between 3 – 10 mins long. As well as getting to share your act with our wonderful community you’ll also get £50 to cover any expenses and some photos of your act.

To apply to perform please send the following  to hello@androandeve.com

  • Name of your act
  • Short description of the act / style of performance
  • Where you are based
  • Whether you can perform at either night, or only Sheffield OR Doncaster. 
  • A short bio of your performance experience (don’t worry if you have none, but do tell us why you want to take advantage of this opportunity)
  • A 3 – minute video of you performing. This could be a link to a video online, or send us a file to download. 

We want to support Northern talent and highlight marginalised voices, so if this applies to you, please apply! Deadline for applications midday on 23/10/19. If you have any questions please also drop us a line. All applicants whether successful or not will be informed by 01/11/19.

If you’re planning on attending our DRAG KING WORKSHOP WEEKEND on 9 – 10 November and want to use either of these events as a way to debut the act you plan to create, we also encourage you to apply for a slot!

A New Phase…

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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…

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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.

Louis Cyfer

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!

Strong party lewks

Open Mic Slots: A Reyt Queer Do

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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.

Announcing: Queer Hub!

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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. 

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Celebrating Two Years

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Today marks two years since the first Andro & Eve event at Cafe #9 with a screening of But I’m a Cheerleader. Last night we celebrated that anniversary in the best possible way, surrounded by the community we care so much about, at a special edition of A Reyt Queer Do.

When starting out, we had no idea we’d be producing events on the scale we are now, and we’re so pleased to be making space in Sheffield to celebrate queer culture. In the time since we founded Andro & Eve, the world can sometimes seems more hostile. Spaces where those often marginalised from the ‘mainstream’ can come together to celebrate and feel free, somehow seem more vital, and in a weird way, more radical. Our events are about creating a physical space where many different people can come together and enjoy culture that speaks to them. Welcoming new and familiar faces to the events gives us LIFE!

We want to say a huge thank YOU to everyone who has supported our work over the last two years. Whether that be through buying a ticket, pin badge, telling a mate about us, sharing one of our tweets, or contributing to our accessible ticket fund, you’ve helped this endeavour grow.

Special thanks go to our volunteers, without them we would not be where we are today. And one in particular who was our only helper for the first year of the venture! It has been brilliant welcoming new volunteers and building a team who help us create quality events that audiences love.

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Some of the Andro & Eve volunteer team with co-founders Rhiannon and Katherine

We also want to say thank you to the artists who have travelled to Sheffield to perform and brought such joy to our audiences. A special mention to Adam All and Apple Derrieres, creators of Boi Box in London, who supported us in creating our drag king cabaret – The Kingdom Come. And we want to mention the venues and organisations we’ve worked with who have given us space for free, or seed funding to cover event costs. These are Walkley Community Centre, Theatre Deli Sheffield, Broomhall Community Centre and She Fest. Thank you for believing in what we do and supporting our work.

We’ll be taking a break from running events over the summer, but we have plenty plans and much behind the scenes work going on, so watch this space for announcements about our future coming soon! You can also sign up to our mailing list to be the first to hear news from Andro and Eve first.. Just sayin…!

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