Queer Icons – Poetry Showcase

Hosted by Day Mattar and Auntie Climax this one-of performance poetry event will profile 15 North west based queer poets exploring Queer Icons through the lens of celebrity, fetish, the symbolic and the sacred.

They’ll also be celebrating the end of the ‘Queer Icons’ course with the Queer Icons Pamphlet available to pre-order through Broken Sleep Books.

Access information:

BSL interpretation will be available and the venue is wheelchair accessible.

Please message queerbodiespoetry@gmail.com with any specific access requests / information.

NML XTRA

For one night only, Homotopia’s Queer the City project will take over the Museum of Liverpool in their first NML Xtra event. An evening showcasing some of the region’s most exciting LGBTQ+ artists all under one roof, the museum will be brought to life with experiences, encounters and installations embedded around its galleries for guests to discover and enjoy.

With more to be announced the line-up includes:

  • Ghetto Fabulous presents the thrilling Catwalk Extravaganza. Dancers go head-to-head in a dance, fashion, and lip sync competition at this interactive event where the audience decides the winner. Join this fabulous celebration of self-expression and help crown the champ!
  • A night-long immersive reimagining of Virgina Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway (1925), created and performed by Matthew Rawcliffe and William James. Matthew is a dance artist from Manchester who is best known for being a grand finalist in BBC Young Dancer (2019).
  • Spice Boys, Walter Ego, Ryan & Uncle Martin, will drag up your life, serving 90s/00s boyband nostalgia and dance moves.
  • Luna Thee Frenchie and Abbie Morris of QueenswaY, a female, LGBTQ+ and non-binary collective which celebrates artists across the Wirral and Liverpool, come together to supply a range of melodic beats that will have guests on their feet.
  • Live music from singer songwriter, iamkyami, whose neo-soul, RnB, hip hop and indie sound was recently profiled in National Museums Liverpool’s Museum Sessions
  • Hands-on activist art workshops led by local artists, Sophie Green and Leo Welton.
  • Spoken word by Queer Bodies, a north-west based poetry collective. Poems inspired by LGBTQ+ writers and the poetic techniques, voices and style that gives their work character, will make for empowering and inspiring performances.

NML Xtra

NML Xtra is a series of events taking over National Museums Liverpool’ venues and spaces like never before outside daytime opening hours. Providing sparkling entertainment and delicious food and drink, the NML Xtra series will both reimagine the venues and invite visitors to explore collections in new and creative ways.

Photo Credit: Joshua Cadogan

Franz and Dan’s Quiz with the Qu...

Drag artists Franz Genau and Dan Chan have landed in Liverpool to take over Chapter of Us for Pride. Expect queer trivia, drinks, performances and a STUNNING art prize to be won!

Music by MixMart DJ.

The event is 18+ only. Come for the queers, stay for the quiz!

Follow the artists on instagram:

Franz Genau: @queerartisan

Dan Chan: @the_danchan

MixMart DJ: @mix__mart

A Lovely Word with Blue Saint (Outside...

A Lovely Word return to the great outdoors!

Yes that’s right, hosted by Unusual Art Sourcing Company and Becky Downing, we give you A Lovely Word in the park, at St James, just below the cathedral. St James’ Garden, Off Upper Duke Street, Liverpool, L8

Introducing Merseyside’s most eclectic spoken word night, where you can turn up, enjoy some poetry or get up and speak yourself. Split into two halves of open mic-ers, with a headliner at the beginning of the second half.

This free event is a fun, relaxed and friendly evening of performance poetry. So turn up, bring your own seat, maybe a picnic, whatever you like! Their headliner is Blue Saint.

About Blue Saint:

Daniel Sebuyange, known professionally as Blue Saint, is a Congolese and British rapper, singer-songwriter, spoken word poet, actor, producer and designer.

A part of Writing on the Wall’s Liverpool Young Writers at the ages twelve to sixteen, winner of The Poetry Society’s SLAMbassadors Award at fourteen, a MOBO BeMOBO Award nominee at the age of fifteen and winner of Merseyrail Soundstation 2014 at the age of twenty, a prize celebrating breaking new talent in the Liverpool music scene.

Blue Saint has also gone on to receive various accolades and achievements for his music, community work and activism. He was included in Liverpool Echo’s “30 under 30: The young people changing the face of Liverpool in 2020” and in The Common Sense Network’s “North30: 2021 North of England’s 30 Under 30 Trail Blazers”.

Throughout his years he has performed at events alongside UK chart topping artists such as Ed Sheeran, Plan B, Wretch 32, Akala, Sway, Lowkey, Benjamin Zephaniah and Jerry Dammers of The Specials, as well as American artists such as Pharoahe Monch and Saul Williams.

He has performed in many places including the Royal Festival Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, Somerset House, Sofar Sounds and has also collaborated with the Royal Northern College of Music session orchestra.

TAKE PART

If you want to sign up in advance, then please whether you are a new poet performing for the first time or a seasoned poet who wants to try out some new stuff – sign up to perform by EITHER;

I) turning up at 7pm to the park (limited availability)
II) emailing alovelywordpodcast@gmail.com with a confirmation of your full name, mobile number and ‘2nd June St James’ in the email title.

When signing up to perform, you are signing up to these principles of the open mic: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S70y959L3YzOtrbxaHV7RXytXQG4tal28sLPuxB9l_c/edit?usp=sharing

Mark Thomas: Black and White

Expect creative fun from one of our oldest surviving alternative comics.

Taking down politicians. Mucking about. New ideas and finding HOPE. This award-winning comedian (is there any other type?) asks how did we get here? What are we going to do about it? Who’s up for a sing song?

After lockdowns and isolation this show is about the simple act of being in a room together and toppling international capitalism.

Pauline Daniels – Get Me Before ...

Pauline Daniels returns to the stage in 2022 with her hotly anticipated stand up comedy tour.

Described as a ‘joyous performer’ by Sir Ken Dodd OBE, she continues to be one of Britain’s hardest working stand up comedienne’s of our generation. With her unique brand of humour and breathtaking vocals, she’s coming to a venue near you for an evening guaranteed to have you rolling in the aisles with laughter!

AS SEEN AND HEARD ON – Calendar Girls The Musical by Gary Barlow & Tim Firth, The Comedians, Shirley Valentine, Bread, Brookside, The Street, Central TV, Saturday Royal, Wogan, Radio Merseyside, Liverpool Live and Ricky Tomlinson’s Laughter Show.

Peep Show – Battle Royale, Cyber...

Teatro Pomodoro unveils a streamed version of the world premiere of Peep Show-Battle Royale

Following previous shows, Siren, Men and Crabs, and Cabaret From The Shadows, Teatro Pomodoro have turned to creating a brand new, off the walls, satirical production that utilizes their trademark blend of anarchic clowning.

The team have created a set that is reminiscent of the peep shows of Amsterdam which creates an immersive quality that enhances the theatrical experience and strangely, translates perfectly to online viewing.

Now, with the collaboration of Melodic Distraction, Peep Show – Battle Royale is ready to be shown globally with an exclusive streamed cyber-showing!

Peep Show – Battle Royale is a darkly comedic, interactive theatrical experience, where the live audience enter a set inspired by the Amsterdam Peep Shows and look through their windows into a new world. A world where the lines between news and entertainment no longer exist and a faceless elite hide behind gruesome, voyeuristic game shows as they manipulate all media, society, and politics.

Battle Royale, a reality T.V show where regular people -turned-gladiators destroy each other on an international stage, their fates lie with the live audience, whose votes can influence the outcome of the game. Think The Muppets meets Gladiator.

Teatro Pomodoro is a multicultural theatre company based in Liverpool who create unique physical theatre and comedy that stems from the diversity of their ensemble: Carmen Arquelladas (Spain), Duncan Cameron (Canada), Miwa Nagai (Japan), Simone Tani (Italy) and their very own Scouser, Leebo Luby.

“One of the most innovative, international physical theatre companies currently working in the North West.” Francesca Peschier, New Works Associate, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse Theatre

Join them for the Official Premiere at 19:30 (British Summer Time) on Saturday May 21st for an exclusive experience, chat with cast members as well as an NFT specific for the event!

(Official Premier tickets will have exclusive access to the stream link before regular ticket holders. The ticket link will still be available to view from May 21st-28th as with the regular ticket holders)

Tickets are also available to buy for anyone who can pay in “Banano” – crypto currencies!!! Head to https://www.teatropomodoro.com/peepshow to find out more.

NFT Giveaway;

If you’re a collector of NFTs and digital assets you’re in luck! You will find QR codes during the show that you can scan to collect your exclusive NFTs, available only to those who are watching the stream.

If you’d like to learn more about NFTs and how to accept them head to their website for a step by step guide.

Age 16+

*This show contains flashing lights*

 

Matt Simpson Memorial Poetry Reading 2...

Kayo Chingonyi was born in Zambia in 1987, and moved to the UK at the age of six. He is the author of two collections, and a fellow of the Complete Works programme for diversity and quality in British Poetry.

In 2012, he was awarded a Geoffrey Dearmer Prize, and was Associate Poet at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in 2015.

His first full-length collection, Kumukanda, won the Dylan Thomas Prize and a Somerset Maugham Award. Kayo was a Burgess Fellow at the Centre for New Writing, University of Manchester before joining Durham University as Assistant Professor of Creative Writing.

He is a writer and presenter for the music and culture podcast Decode on Spotify, poetry editor at Bloomsbury, and his most recent collection A Blood Condition was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the T.S. Eliot Prize, and the Costa Poetry Award.

For further information, please contact Dr Eleanor Rees at reese@hope.ac.uk

Filla Cracks Drag Brunch

What is drag brunch? Well, imagine the mad hatters tea party with a drag twist!

Our resident host Filla Crack will serenade you while a delicious meal is served at your table, when you’ve finished eating, Filla’s 4 guest queens will whack out some incredible performances to take you long into the afternoon, finishing on a karaoke and disco, we’ll then send you of into the city with a tummy full of mimosas knowing you still have the rest of the day to enjoy what the city’s nightlife has to offer.

Miss Crack prides herself on creating a safe space where all your need are catered for, this is not just a show, but a cabaret event for anyone whether you’re looking to enjoy drag at it’s finest, or just a fun way to start the weekend.

Filla’s shows always sell out in good time, so book the weekend off work, whatsapp the girls, order your biodegradable glitter and grab some tickets before they’re all gone (and you’ve got FOMO from the vids on the gram.)

Motionhouse: Nobody

Fast-moving and highly physical, Nobody explores the tension between our inner lives and how we make sense of the world around us.

Motionhouse’s renowned dance-circus style combines with mesmerising choreography to tell this emotional and ultimately uplifting story, full of twists and turns.

Packed with visual magic, the world on stage is transformed before our eyes. Digital projections and the shape-shifting set create a constantly changing environment where nothing is quite what it seems…