This project is with and for the LGBTQIA+ community and has been able to provide multiple opportunities for employment, learning, entrepreneurship, and creativity for young people and adults based in Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, and Waltham Forest through two theatre groups and traineeships.
Supported by Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The Queer collective project is made up of weekly creative sessions exploring and celebrating LGBTQIA+ performance-making.
The company has had the opportunity to explore and devise their work in workshops ran by our brilliant facilitator team as well as taking part in focus workshops from Queer artists, looking at performance-making skills and forms such as drag, writing, movement, and vogue.
The project has also included traineeship opportunities for LGBTQIA+ individuals including two trainee facilitator positions and a trainee assistant producer role. During the performance of the project a trainee stage manager/tech op will also join the project.
The first part of the project, a series of workshops exploring performance skills has already taken place. We are getting ready to move onto the 2nd part of the project, with more workshops and a youth queer theatre group.
The company’s devised 1st part of the project was performed on Saturday 20th July at Arcola Theatre:
Searching For Meaning With A Group of Queers In A Darkened Room
Focus Workshops with Queer Artists
Drag with Celeste Cahn
Celeste Cahn is an actor/writer and facilitator as well as drag/cabaret artist who performs under the name Gyno Might. She creates political, feminist theatre with an eye towards history, comedy and community building. Some past credits include her solo show A Lady Does Not Scratch Her Crotch (Ed Fringe, Nola inFringe, Central Square Theatre, Hen& Chickens (upcoming)), TANA (EdFringe, Bread and Roses), Virtually Yours (New Masculinities Festival), and Macbeth (New Orleans Shakespeare Festival). She also works as a Sex Educator and a Tour guide.
Instagram: @thegynomight
VOGUE by Bronze
Bronze is a movement director & coach, and an Up-And-Coming Legend from the captivating House Of est. A nurturing & supportive figure in the community, they have been a driving force in making the UK Ballroom scene more accessible to QTIBPoC, including co-founding London’s original mini ball series Vogue Rites fka Turn It. Instagram: @bronzeasinbronzeWriting with Matty May
Instagram @thatmattymay
Lead Facilitators
Adam (he/they)
Adam is a theatre maker, facilitator and teacher. He co-runs the Queer collective and also runs one of Arcola’s youth theatre companies.
Jess (she/they)
Jess is a theatre maker from East London. They have worked with many communities across London, including young people, mental health service users, and the LGBTQ+ community. They are passionate about collaborative practices, and theatre’s intersections with advocacy and activism. They have facilitated for the Arcola since 2019 and love working in such a vibrant, creative and inclusive environment.
Trainee Facilitators
Chiara Dadini (she/her):
Chiara is a facilitator and dramaturge from Italy. She is fascinated by facilitation’s potential to foster communities, enable participants’ expression and empower individuals to explore their identities through performance. She is excited to explore the creative potential of collaborative devising practices within LGBTQ+ spaces. Chiara is thrilled to have the opportunity to develop her craft working with the Queer Collective and to learn from Jess, Adam and the facilitation team as a whole.
Lex (they/them)
Lex is a trans non-binary neurodivergent theatre-maker, facilitator, and director, originally from Sheffield.
As a practitioner, they are especially interested in the Queering of the theatre space, approaching work from a neuroqueer lens and interrogating what this means both on-stage and off. They have thoroughly enjoyed working with the Arcola’s Queer Collective and cannot wait to share some of what has been explored over the last few months.
Producer team
Participation manager/Producer
Charlotte Croft (she/her)
Trainee Assistant Producer
Amy Lynne Westray (they/she)
Amy is a queer theatre maker, facilitator and cabaret artist, with particular interest in clowning, physical comedy and absurdity. They are very grateful to have the opportunity to develop skills in producing through this exciting project and can’t wait for the Queer Collective to share their work!
Technical / Stage management team
Stage Manager
Atlanta Sonson-Chapman
Trainee Stage Manager
Emilija Mema
