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Brighton Festival 2018 PREVIEW: Travis Alabanza – Before I Step Outside (You Love Me)

An evening of Black trans poetics with one of the UK’s leading trans artists.

COMBINING spoken word with soundscapes, projections and animation in collaboration with Daniel Braithwaite Shirley, Travis presents a feature performance from their acclaimed debut book of poetry.

Through diary entries, images, poems and essays, Travis reveals their experience as a trans person navigating public spaces: being on the street, being on public transport, being harassed, stared at, and surviving.

In the last two years, Travis Alabanza has emerged as one of the most prominent emerging queer performers, writers and theatre-makers. They have been artist in residence at the Tate; starred in Scottee’s theatre productions Putting Words In Your Mouth (Roundhouse) and Jubilee (Royal Exchange); and had their work featured in The Guardian, BBC, Huck Magazine and more.

Before I Step Outside (You Love Me) has been shipped to over 19 countries worldwide, and is listed as one of the top trans literary books of 2017.

Age recommendation: 16+


Event: Travis Alabanza – Before I Step Outside (You Love Me) – Plus post-show discussion

Where: Brighthelm Centre, North Road, Brighon BN1 1YD

When: Saturday, May 12

Time: 7.30pm – Duration 80 minutes including interval

Cost: £12.50, £10 under 26s, £8 under 18s

To book tickets online, click here:

Brighton Festival 2018 PREVIEW: Ezra Furman

One of Guest Director David Shrigley’s picks is the Chicago’s rock & roll hero, Ezra Furman – a performer that has to be seen to be believed.

TEARS. Heartbreak. Unbridled joy. Ezra Furman is the real deal!

Fans of Chicago’s gender fluid rock’n’roll hero will testify as to the electric energy of his live shows that teeter on the edge of hysteria.

His onstage presence, hook-laden garage-punk (think Jonathan Richman meets Spector-era Ramones meets The E Street Band), and confessional lyrics about sexuality, depression, faith and politics, have all earned him a legion of followers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Back with his newly re-christened band The Visions, and hot on the heels of the release of latest album Transangelic Exodus, this is a performer that must be seen to be believed.


Event: Ezra Furman

Where: Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Church Street, Brighton BN1 1UD

When: Saturday,May 26

Time: 8pm

Cost: £17.50 unreserved/standing stalls: £15, £17.50 circle seated

To book tickets online, click here:

Brighton Festival 2018 PREVIEW: National Theatre of Scotland – Adam

National Theatre of Scotland’s remarkable production about one trans man’s journey across border and genders – winner of Scotsman Fringe First, Herald Angel and Scottish Arts Club Awards.

Photo: Andy Bell
Photo: Andy Bell

IF YOU are born in a country where being yourself can get you killed, exile is your only choice. Adam is the remarkable true story of a young transgender man having to make that choice and begin his journey.

From Egypt to Scotland, this powerful, award-winning production charts Adam’s fight across borders and genders to find a place to call home.

A remarkable multimedia production, Adam features a stunning score composed by Olivier award-winner Jocelyn Pook (Eyes Wide Shut, Gangs of New York) sung by a virtual choir of trans and non-binary individuals from around the world.

An unforgettable thunderbolt of feeling……. The Telegraph ★★★★★

A powerful story of transcendence….. The Herald ★★★★★

Written by Frances Poet – conceived for the stage and directed by Cora Bissett.


Event: National Theatre of Scotland: Adam

Where: Theatre Royal Brighton, New Road, Brighton BN1 1SD

When: Wednesday May 9 – Saturday, May 12 –  Audio described performance on May 12, 7pm

Time: Wednesday – Friday 8pm –  Saturday 7pm – Duration 80 minutes (no interval)

Cost: £10, £15, £18.50, £22.50 – £15 under 26s

To book tickets online, click here:

Brighton Festival 2018 PREVIEW: Penguins

Penguins – A delightful show for ages 3+ based on a true story that touched hearts worldwide.

ROY AND SILO are just like other penguin pairs at Central Park Zoo – they walk, swim and dance together. But Roy and Silo are both boys, so when the zookeeper finds them trying to hatch a stone, he thinks there may be a chance for them to become parents for real.

Penguins is a delightful new theatre and dance production based on the true story that touched hearts worldwide, and inspired the bestselling picture book, And Tango Makes Three.

The devising team is led by award-winning children’s director Paul Bosco McEneaney, Artistic Director of Cahoots NI, while movement is directed by acclaimed international choreographer Carlos Pons Guerra of DeNada Dance (pictured right) who makes his debut in a show for young audiences.

A delightful show for young audiences aged 3+ about fun, friendship and the changing nature of family.

Supported by University of Brighton.


Event: Penguins (Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Cahoots NI & Prime Theatre)

Where: Sallis Benney Theatre, University of Brighton, 58 – 67 Grand Parade, Brighton BN2 0JY

When: Saturday, May 12 – Sunday, May 13 – Age 3+ Duration 50 minutes

Time: Saturday, May 12, 2pm and 4.30pm: Sunday, May 13, 11am, 2pm (relaxed performance) and 4.30pm

Cost: £7 children; £10 adults; £30 family ticket (2 adults + 2 children)

To book tickets online, click here:

Brighton Fringe PREVIEW: Waiting for Gandalf by Adrian Marks

No Hobbits in this play, but an equally unexpected hero!

OVER the past two years the enterprising and imaginative Brighton based charity Mankind has been establishing a reputation for presenting lively, provocative theatre at the Brighton Fringe: GROOMED (2016), BLOOMING and BETWEEN YOU AND ME (2017).

This year the emphasis, despite the title of Adrian Marks’ play, moves far from Hobbits, onto the hidden hero inside all of us – however ordinary we may feel. Vulnerable, plucky….the hero emerges in ways startling, comic and profoundly human.

Meet Kevin Brook, self-confessed fanatic of all things Lord of the Rings. On the evening before Gandalf is to sign copies of the brand new movie companion to The Two Towers, Kevin is first in the queue outside the bookshop, eagerly waiting.

But in the deep of the night the thrilling fantasy characters soon give way to the all too real people in his own memory – friends who don’t understand him, family who never had time for him.

What’s the real reason for his obsession with the kindly wizard? A disturbing truth is about to be revealed, and with it the chance for Kevin to find the way clear to a more optimistic future…..

Will he seize the opportunity? Can we, watching, support him?

Adrian Marks’ wry and sensitive writing is matched by the gentle quirkiness of Chris Neville-Smith’s stage presence….but is this a disguise for something infinitely more complex?

Maybe our whole idea of what it means to be male and heroic will be subtly, even inspiringly challenged!

Dark-as-hell (Fringe Guru),  ***** (Albie Media),  **** (Broadway Baby)

Mankind developed in 2000 from the need for an agency in Sussex that could provide appropriate services to men who had experienced sexual abuse, they now receive 150 referrals a year.

Their main services are 1-1 counselling along with a range of therapeutic groups. Funded by the Big Lottery, Ministry of Justice, Comic Relief and Local PCC funds, they are the only service of its kind in the South East.


Event: Waiting for Gandalf by Adrian Marks

Where: Sweet Werks (Venue 18), 15-17 Middle Street, Brighton and Hove, BN1 1AL

When: May 14-20

Time: 6pm (75mins including after show Q&A)

Cost: £8.00 / £6.00

To book tickets online, click here:

Rural Norfolk estate opens gardens for LGBT+ fundraising event

An LGBT+ inclusive day at Stody Lodge Gardens on the Stody Estate near Holt, North Norfolk will be raising funds for Norwich Pride.

On Saturday, May 26 2018, Stody Lodge Gardens will extend a special welcome and invitation to the LGBT+ communities, as well as family and friends, to visit and enjoy its 14-acres of colourful rhododendrons and azaleas.

This event has been developed in association with Norwich Pride who will be serving delicious rainbow cakes and homemade teas to the garden’s hungry visitors.

All proceeds from the tea rooms will go to help fund Norwich’s 10th Anniversary Pride on July 28, 2018.

Richard Hulbert, Head Gardener at Stody Lodge Gardens, said: “As a gay man I am especially proud to be sharing the gardens that I love with everyone in our communities. We hope this event will inspire other similar LGBT+ events in rural areas to celebrate diversity in different ways. The annual Norwich Pride parade is a very important annual event for many in our community and we are delighted to help raise funds to make this year’s tenth anniversary Pride a truly wonderful day.”

Julie Bremner, Chair of Norwich Pride 2018, said: “Norwich Pride is delighted to be holding a Big Gay Out LGBT+ inclusive day at Stody Lodge Gardens on May 26. We will be ready to serve rainbow cakes and teas to people visiting these beautiful and colourful gardens.

“It is very generous of Stody Lodge Gardens to open its doors to us and donate all monies raised from cake-sales to help us organise another fabulous Norwich Pride event this year. We are jointly planning some surprises for you to discover in the gardens on the day too that will make people’s visits extra special.”

Kate MacNicol from Stody Lodge Gardens, added: “We are very excited about welcoming in the LGBT+ communities, their family and friends, to our gardens for a day of colour and fun. We hope everyone will enjoy themselves and take away some happy memories of a day that will celebrate diversity in all its forms as well as the spectacular display nature puts on for us in our gardens each May.”

There is good disabled access to most areas of the gardens with accessible toilet and parking available. Delicious homemade teas will be served and there will be a fantastic plant stall. Dogs on leads are welcome.

Anyone interested in donating a cake to Norwich Pride to be served on May 26, 2018 at Stody Lodge Gardens, email: info@norwichpride.org.uk.

Visitors to Stody Lodge Gardens will be blown away by the riot of colour thanks to its extensive collection of over 200 varieties of rhododendrons and azaleas. This intensity of colour is softened by beautiful magnolias, camellias, ornamental and specimen trees, late daffodils and bluebells.

Stody’s exceptional two-acre Azalea Water Gardens is widely believed to be the largest single planting of vividly coloured azalea mollis (over 2,000 plants) in the country.

London architect Walter Sarel was commissioned to design Stody Lodge and its gardens in 1932 by the 1st Viscount Rothermere, the British newspaper proprietor and founder of the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror. The gardens’ original design have been protected as much as possible whilst developing new areas, deepening the herbaceous borders and adding interest around the lodge.

Stody Lodge Gardens are open:
♦  All Sundays in May from 1pm-5pm
♦  Tuesday May 15 and Wednesday May 16
♦  From Tuesday May 22 to Friday, May 25 inclusive, Saturday May 26 and
♦  Bank Holiday Monday, May 28, 2018.

Midweek groups and coach tours welcome by appointment.

Telephone: 01263 863994 or email enquiries@stodyestate.co.uk


Event: The Stody BIG GAY OUT LGBT+ inclusive day.

Where: Melton Constable, Norfolk NR24 2ER

When: Saturday, May 26

Time: 1pm-5pm

Cost: Entrance is £6, children under 12 free

Kicking racism out of football

EXETER City Football Club played their designated Kick it Out game as part of the One Game One Community initiative against Cheltenham Town FC on Bank Holiday Monday, April 2.

Photo: Alan Quick
Photo: Alan Quick

Volunteers distributed leaflets, stickers and other Kick it Out materials to supporters attending to watch the match.

The players from both teams and match officials warmed up in Kick it Out shirts.

It was also the Exeter Welcoming Refugees game and a number of refugees were invited to watch the match.

Volunteers from Exeter City of Sanctuary also assisted in giving out leaflets and helping at the match.

Photo: Alan Quick
Photo: Alan Quick
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