Storytelling PR

Theatre

A Space to Bless, live from St Mary’s Cathedral to lead a month of queer connectivity from Queen Jesus Productions

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Jo Clifford in The Gospel According To Jesus Queen of Heaven at Traverse Theatre Dec 2018, credit Aly Wight

One year on since the pandemic took hold, Queen Jesus Productions have continued their pioneering support of trans and LGBTQI+ theatre by sustaining two interlinked, evolving strands of work; the development of Scotland’s first all trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming performance ensemble and a programme of interactive digital art works inspired by Jo Clifford’s revolutionary play, ​The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven.

Looking to the future this April, audiences are invited to immerse themselves in the stunning surrounds of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh for a series of blessings. A Space to Bless is the centrepiece in a programme of events and gatherings next month – a space within Clifford’s queer utopia to gather and commune online for up to 15 minutes every day Monday 12 – Monday 26 April.

A follow on from a series of Sunday blessings released online in 2020, these brand new works will be livestreamed at noon from the Cathedral, with each daily chapter offering a gathering, a text, space for meditation and a blessing.

The five chapters will incorporate elements of The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven, reimagined in this unique setting – inspired by and respecting the building’s use, stunning physical features and fascinating history. There will be live BSL interpretation by Yvonne Waddell each day and all five chapters will be available with Closed Captions at the end of performance week.

The week will close with a screening of The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven, recorded as live and streamed from Augustine United Church in Edinburgh on Saturday 19 December and Sunday 20 December 2020.

The livestream performances will coincide with “Gender & Liturgy in conversation” – an online conference taking place over six days to discuss various themes and issues around gender and liturgy in the Scottish Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican tradition.

Revd Canon Marion Chatterley, Vice Provost, St Mary’s Cathedral, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Queen Jesus Productions into St Mary’s Cathedral for their week of live-streamed ’A Space to Bless’ events. Our Cathedral seeks to celebrate diversity, to welcome everyone into our prayerful space and to be a place where we are reminded that we are all loved equally and completely by the God who knows us and made us.”

Jo Clifford, writer and performer and founding director of Queen Jesus Productions said: “It is a real joy to be able to create something for Queen Jesus to livestream from the very beautiful St Mary’s Cathedral. It’s a great privilege and a great responsibility.

I was brought up in the Anglican tradition and it still remains very precious to me. I’ve been very moved to rediscover its beauty as I’ve been attending Evening Prayer every day there as part of my preparation for this event; and a real honour to be asked to contribute some thoughts to the “Gender and Liturgy in Conversation” event that the Catedral is hosting in the same week.

The Episcopalian church in Brazil has been incredibly courageous in its support for Queen Jesus during her persecution there, and it makes me really happy to be working their sister church here in Scotland on a programme of liberation for everyone.”

Meanwhile behind the scenes at Queen Jesus Productions, the ensemble; Sadie Godiva, Bibi June, Adam Kashmiry, Goose Masondo, Saerlaith Robyn McQuaid O’Dwyer, Kirsty Biff Nicolson, Bel Pye  and EM Williams, with Stage Manager Fin Dickins and Director David Wood continue a bespoke programme of development and training. Members were first brought together as part of Queen Jesus’ 10th anniversary festival in 2019 – responding to an open call to take part in a new verbatim theatre piece called Untitled 2009, written by trans non-binary writer Nelly Kelly.

External expert sessions led by inspiring trans creatives at the top of their fields, including SHaySHay, Rebecca Root and Malik Nashad Sharpe aka Marikiscrycrycry will take place in tandem with writer Nelly Kelly’s further development of the ideas underpinning ‘Untitled 2009’ into a new play, written for the ensemble, which is supported by Playwright’s Studio Scotland’s New Playwright’s Award. The programme is being delivered online while restrictions are in place with an invited public reading of the work in progress play planned for spring.

Over the last 11 years The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven​ has had a profound impact on trans representation in theatre and on the thousands of people all over the world who have interacted with it. Queen Jesus will continue to grow its international reputation as the play makes its Australasian debut next month with Kristen Smyth in the iconic role, to be performed live as part of a new production for Melbourne’s Theatre Works and Midsumma Festival.

With the theatre industry under enormous pressures Queen Jesus Productions believes it is vitally important, now more than ever, to continue to represent, support and lift trans and LGBTQI+ voices onto our stages as we look forward to the theatrical gatherings that so many cannot wait to return to, when the time is safe and right.

The world is living through a continued time of widespread social distance, isolation, turbulent physical and mental health – but with some hope on the horizon. Queen Jesus Productions will continue to gather a community no matter where they are in the world,  with April’s programme of events just the beginning for them in 2021.  

For more information visit queenjesusproductions.com.

Ends.

Listings

A Space to Bless, live from St Mary’s Cathedral – 12:00 BST daily on Monday 12 – Monday 26 April

The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven – 18:00 (BST) on Friday 16 April

One ticket grants access to all five chapters and the screening of The Gospel.

Tickets are on a sliding scale of free, £2, £4, £6, £8 or £10.

Booking: https://www.queenjesusproductions.com/a-space-to-bless-st-marys

Media Contacts

For further information, images and interview requests please contact Storytelling PR:

Miriam Attwood: miriam@storytellingpr.com

Emma Costello: emma@storytellingpr.com

Notes to Editors

About Queen Jesus Productions

Queen Jesus Productions is an award-winning theatre company based in Scotland on a mission to end trans and LGBTQIA+ discrimination, created originally to support Jo Clifford’s ground-breaking play ‘The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven’.

Formed in 2015 by founding directors Jo Clifford (writer and performer), Susan Worsfold (director and designer) and Annabel Cooper (producer), the company has toured internationally to a broad and diverse range of venues, from Belo Horizonte in Brazil to Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Our sister company, Queen Jesus Plays BR, has overcome censorship and violence to perform the play over 200 times in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Capo Verde, inspiring thousands and changing the face of Brazilian theatre for ever.

The company has continued to work throughout the pandemic, collaborating with Nelly Kelly, NTS and the BBC on 68 Months in Waiting,  creating lockdown-responsive digital artworks under the banner of A Space to Bless, presenting a live-streamed performance for Christmas and supporting the evolution of Scotland’s first all trans, gender non-conforming and non-binary performance ensemble.

Facing Racism in Fringe PR & Media

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In July 2020 Storytelling PR Director, Miriam Attwood sent a rambling email to Black, Asian, Migrant, Indigenous and Ethnically Diverse artists and colleagues in the industry (that Storytelling have worked with) saying Storytelling was keen to use the rare time we now had in lieu of the August Festival season to hold a formal awareness raising moment about Racism in Fringe PR and Comms. As an industry leader it felt possible to get people within the industry to really face and work towards making long term change – but of course – inappropriate for Miriam A to hold that space. 

In doing this work we sought invaluable advice, accepting constant suggestions, amendments and corrections along the way. Three points specifically we would like to underline about this work are; one change can only happen when the industry welcomes Ethnically Diverse Talent to take up positions of power, and fosters that talent with real awareness and two as a white team we cannot take up room in this space, but we feel we can support with providing a platform, carrying out admin, and asking for funding. three we are a small cog in a huge space of change and we would like to thank the leaders in this space who have taught us so much. 

Manifesting from this were two forums where Tigho Feldman held the space as facilitator. Tigho is currently Head of Operations for Rambert London, and through her impressive career held senior roles within the Festival Fringe Society.

Leading on both format and content were Arusa Qureshi (Edinburgh based, Freelance Culture and Music writer) and Clarcia Parinussa (dancer, choreographer, race equalities work as ID.Y and D/ecology)

With Arusa, Claricia and Tigho’s leadership we came to a conclusion a closed forum with a group of creatives would begin the event, providing a safe space for comment and honest reflection, (Storytelling PR did not attend). Then a second industry facing forum with conclusions shared and an ask of a commitment to change with an open sign up sheet.  There was a third forum – a breakout space – for industry – namely PRs, media and marketers – to meet and reflect. We would like to fully recognise this was very much a ‘change, amend, update’ process, and we are greatly appreciative for all the honest feedback we received. 

The contributing creatives* include: 

Annie George – Artist and Writer 
Shivani Saini – Director Atelier Culturati 
Christian Graham – Writer and actor
Apphia Campbell – Writer and Actor 
Katherina Radeva – Co-Director Two Destination Language
Sage Nokomis-Wright (Producer)
Mandla Rae (Performance Artist) 
Natalie Chan (Producer) 
Arusa Qureshi (Culture and Music journalist)
Claricia Parinussa (Dancer, Choreographer and race inequalities facilitator and industry leader)

Artists and writers in the first forum were welcome to attend the second. Many of those contributors have also fed back to us specifically with suggestions and ideas that were taken on board, and shared. We are looking at how we continue to build and share on these responses and to safely make these public. 

*we have invited artists to keep their name anonymous as in the closed forum facilitated by Tigho Feldman. 

Footage of the second session will soon be available for media and PRs to engage with. We would ask anyone joining this space to commit to making at least one change in their working practice to make spaces safer for Ethnically Diverse Artists and Industry. 

Breakdown of funding:

Festival Fringe Society £240
Storytelling PR LTD £715
Industry attendees were asked to contribute £10
Artists and facilitator payments £850 
Donations in lieu of fees to Ethically Diverse led companies £150 

NEXT STEPS: Storytelling will seek to apply for funding to continue this work and then hand over the space to Ethnically Diverse Talent to own and hold the space and continue the work with the resources Storytelling can offer. 

Storytelling PR Ltd will be looking to hire a new PR in 2021 to diversify our permanent team and will be advertising with the Taylor Bennet Foundation https://www.taylorbennettfoundation.org/ and Black-led British publications and job sites. 

We will continue to publish comments from contributors and commitments from industry in this space.

Wonder Fools announce new summer season of work

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Announced this week: five new projects come from the young Glasgow Company as they, along with most of the country, rewrite their diary for 2020.  Stories to Connect Us is an entire season of digital work from Wonder Fools, with three completely new pieces of storytelling: Secret Private World, Home Made and The New Normal.

A reworked audio version of The Coolidge Effect will be available from July and the theatre company’s sold out Scottish touring show 549: Scots of the Civil War will be available for a limited time to watch online, with a new intro from the team explaining why they’ve decided to share the archive footage online. The online premiere with a Q&A will take place on June 30.

Wonder Fools co-founder, Jack Nurse commented:

“Wonder Fools were set for 2020 being the most productive, far reaching and artistically challenging yet. With the advent of COVID19, we have put our planned live shows on the backburner and turned our attention to creating digital work that directly speaks to today. At heart, we are a company that tells stories and have always experimented with different forms – Stories to Connect Us is no different.

“We can’t wait to be back in theatres again but for now we are excited for audiences to interact with some of our favourite old shows in new ways and to create brand new work for the first time in two years. We hope the season will utilise the possibilities of digital forms and through the stories we have chosen to tell offer audiences great entertainment and, above all, a sense of connection for these isolated times.”

Online from Tuesday July 28 a new audio version of Wonder Fools’ play, The Coolidge Effect, starring Robbie Gordon & Jamie Marie Leary, (written by Gordon and Nurse) will be available for download. Having toured extensively across the UK through 2016 – 2018 the show explores the impact of pornography addiction on people’s mental health. Devised from interviews with porn advocates, addicts, mental health experts and scientists The Coolidge Effect has become an even more relevant conversation as we sit at home behind our screens. 

At its core, The Coolidge Effect is a story about isolation and the importance of connection, the new audio version features a powerful and upbeat score written for the show by VanIves.

549: Scots of the Spanish Civil War will be shared through archive footage from one of the most joyous nights on the UK tour. Available to watch on Tuesday June 30. Filmed live in an Ayrshire town hall, the recording celebrates the raw power of rural touring and community, and tells the story of a moment in our history where international solidarity and hope stood up in the face of oppressive fascism. The need for this story to be retold regrettably continues today. Wonder Fools hope to reach more of the families of the 549 who were unable to see it on tour in 2019, inviting them to contact the team directly to share their stories contact@wonderfools.org. A huge archive of information gathered around the project of 549 men who traveled from Scotland to support the anti-facist movement in Spanish Civil War is continually being built at 549.scot.

The three projects that will be announced in more detail through the course of summer 2020 include, The New Normal, a collection of monologues created by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Young Company which tell the stories of those people most profoundly affected by the pandemic.

A co-production with MGA Academy, Home Made looks at how our relationship to home evolves as we move out into the world. Created on zoom with the final year acting students – what home means seems very poignant, especially right now.

Finally, Secret Private World is a new thriller by Wonder Fools to be serialised as a six-part podcast. Set in lockdown Glasgow, the familiar story of gazing out windows, staring at the same walls, watching the rubbish pile up, will come to life with fictional James, as our narrator. Whilst creating narratives in his head about the lives of his neighbours he notices something, a peculiar incident nobody else seems to notice.

Further information about this impressive season of work from the independent theatre company coming through summer 2020.

For images, interview requests and further info please contact Miriam at Storytelling PR miriam@storytellingpr.com 07825642225 (and hopefully the rest of the team soon!)

Listings Stories to Connect Us

The Coolidge Effect – available 28 June 2020

549: Scots of the Civil War – viewing on Tuesday 30 June, tickets available via the website on a ‘pay-what-you-can’ basis alongside a live Q&A with the creative team. Fundraising around the re-run of 549 Scots of the Civil War will see 50% of money raised going directly to the cast and creative team behind 549.

Home Made – to be announced

Secret Private World – to be announced

New Normal – to be announced

Wonder Fools Team

Robbie Gordon co-founder / co-writer/ performer

Jack Nurse co-founder / co-writer/ director

Steph Connell producer

549: Scots of the Civil War on tour was ‘in association with Citizens Theatre and the Brunton supported by Ayr Gaiety’. The Peggy Ramsey Foundation is supporting Secret Private World.

Hot Brown Honey

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WORD POLLINATION TOUR | DECOLONISE AND MOISTURISE | ROCK THE BOAT

Hot Brown Honey. Image by Dylan Evans.

It’s 2020, and Hot Brown Honey are back. Touring to the UK and Canada, leading a charge for a matriarchal future with their smash-hit, world-wide, sell-out blend of theatre and activism. 

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Mother Lovers? A theatrical explosion of colour, culture and controversy, Hot Brown Honey is returning to the UK and Canada after taking the world by storm.  

Equal parts theatrical masterpiece and social activism, a stellar posse of phenomenal women smash stereotypes in an unapologetic celebration of our similarities and differences. Steeped in the Word of the Mother and packing a potent punch of Hip Hop politics, Hot Brown Honey will make you laugh until you cry, clap until your hands bleed and shake every part of what your mama gave you. With lighting, music and costume set to ignite the change we want to be, Hot Brown Honey is an extraordinary production that spins tradition on its head, going above and beyond to challenge boundaries and embrace resilience. 

Hot Brown Honey features a bevy of powerful and talented First Nations women from the Global South from Aboriginal, Samoan, Tongan, Maori, Indonesian and South African backgrounds who are dead set on calling out the patriarchy, shattering preconceptions of colour and having a riotous time doing it. 

Starring Lisa Fa’alafi as the Game Changer, Kalala Sione as The Love Liberator, Hope Haami as Hope One the Beatboxer, Cody Raymond as The Shape Shifter, Crystal Stacey as The Peace Maker and Busty Beatz as The Queen Bee. 

Co-creator and Director Lisa Fa’alafi says: “We’re telling our own stories and putting them into a big theatrical explosion. We are going, you know what, it’s our time to shine. We’re all from these amazing heritages and we all live in Australia and we want to show the world what we’re made of. We really do believe ‘You cannot be what you cannot see’, so we are just doing it; we are putting more brown faces on stage.”

Recipients of the 2017 Three Weeks Editor’s Award at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2016 UK’s Total Theatre Award for Innovation, Experimentation and Playing With Form, Helpmann Award for Best Cabaret Performer and Green Room Awards for Best Production and Best Design and a 2018 UK Theatre nomination for Best Touring Production, Hot Brown Honey have lit centre stage at the most prestigious venues and festivals across the globe including Sydney Opera House, Queen Elizabeth’s Hall, National Arts Centre Ottawa, Brighton Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Auckland Pride Festival and Hull Freedom Festival, to name a few. 

Co-Creator/MD Busty Beatz: “The Arts has the capacity to shift culture and we are living in a time where the paradigm is shifting enormously. We live in a culture that needs change urgently.Not tomorrow. Right Here. Right Now. We stand in the Creative Revolution.At the forefront we give Love and Respect to First Nations People. We give Love and Respect to those who have come before us. To the Game Changers Myth SlayersPoets, MoversMusic MakersGround Breakers, Truth Sayers, Shake em up Women Queens, Queers and Risk Takers. We are the Change Creators – This is our world Mother Lovers and we are here to MAKE NOISE!”

In 2020 Hot Brown Honey are ready to Rock The Boat, unapologetically fierce, defiantly shattering preconceptions in an explosion of colour, culture and controversy. Fighting the Power never tasted so sweet. 

Media Contact: Miriam (+44) 7825642225 miriam@storytellingpr.com and Eleanor eleanor@storytellingpr.com at Storytelling PR LTD.

Within Sight

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By Ellen Renton
Presented by In The Works

Spring UK Tour March – June 2020 

Ellen Renton, Within Sight. Image by Bibi Schwithal.

Scottish Spoken Word artist Ellen Renton has lived with albinism her whole life. An estimated 1 in 17,000 people in the UK do. But what if there was only one achievement that would deem that life successful? Within Sight dismantles ableism, inspiration porn, and the myth of the Paralympics. 

This is a poetic exploration of living with albinism – an inherited life-long condition that means people produce little or no melanin, affecting the eyes, skin and hair and resulting in various levels of visual impairment.

One of society’s most misunderstood conditions wildly shrouded in myths and misconceptions, Ellen will tour the UK this Spring with her debut solo work urging audiences to reconsider representation.

Through softly spoken but hard-hitting words and an impressive cardio display, we follow the journey of a young athlete who goes out for a run in an attempt to clear her head after receiving news that she has narrowly missed out on being picked for the GB Paralympics team. 

As she runs, she recalls the events that have led to this pivotal moment, reflecting on relationships between her body, her senses, and her sport. She contemplates what her future will hold in a society that has forced her life into a binary: to succeed and be an inspiration, or to fail and be pitied.

Hot-tempered with passion and fanatic in her strong work ethic, the protagonist’s complex character defies the one-note depiction of disabled people in popular media. 

Spoken word and poetry is fast becoming one of the world’s most popular mediums for marginalised artists to address societal prejudice and discrimination. Ellen set out to create a work that is personal in its topic but universal in its narrative of how society fails disabled people.

Confrontational, complex and emotional, the show is a display of the power of spoken word theatre.

The team for Within Sight is disability-led, and the show has been designed to flip accessibility on its head. With minimal staging and text-based performance, the show has been created for all to enjoy without relying on sight. Ellen enlisted filmmaker Kiana Kalantar-Hormozi to create a visual backdrop aimed at providing a glimpse of what the world looks like through the eyes of someone living with partial sight and a musical score by Jack Hinks. 

On creating Within Sight, Ellen Renton said, “I wanted to challenge people to think about the role that they themselves play in perpetuating ableism, and specifically, to talk about the poor representation of disabled people in today’s society. The show mixes a fictional narrative with the reality of living with albinism, confronting the audience with their expectations of what a disabled life looks like.”

Event information: 

5-6 March, 8pm – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh 
19-21st March, 8pm – Tron Theatre, Glasgow 
15 May, 7.30pm – Dunoon Burgh Hall
21 May, 8pm – Canada Waters, London
30 May, 2pm – Platform, London
4-5 June, 7.30pm – Byre Theatre, St Andrews 

Every venue will host BSL interpreted shows with an adapted ‘touch tour’ pre show available for visually impaired audience members. All performances are captioned and relaxed. 

Tickets available from In The Works.