Welcome to our weekly Festival Digest !
During the month of August, we will be showcasing the work of SPN members as well as other LGBT+ content from around the Edinburgh Festival. As part of this effort, we will be publishing a weekly digest during the Fringe, featuring show recommendations and reviews sent in by SPN members.
Seen a show you’d like to recommend?
Leave us a review using this form – it only takes a minute or two, and we’ll include your recommendation in next week’s digest so that other folks from around the university can check it out! |
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SPN (and Friends) Showcase
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Afternoon T with Georgia Tasda
(Comedy/LGBT+/Satire)
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Here she comes! London’s breakthrough comedy drag act arrives in Edinburgh with a brand-new show! Join Georgia Tasda for a brew as she spills the T. Expect queer capers, gender-bending, and of course, cocktails!
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| ‘Georgia Tasda carries Leigh Bowery’s torch for weird and exceptional drag performance art’ (LoverboyMagazine.com)
‘This is a copyright lawsuit waiting to happen’ (Georgia’s lawyer)
Showtimes and tickets available: here |
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Gypsy Queen
(LGBT+/Drama)
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Can two men raised to fight ever learn to love? The story of “Gorgeous” George O’Connell, bare-knuckle fighter and traveller, who enters the world of professional boxing, putting him on a collision course with his roots, his identity and his greatest fear. In the opposite corner, gay boxer Dane “The Pain” Samson, the young pretender and son of a boxing legend, is fighting his own battles, which will lead to a tragedy that neither could predict. Gypsy Queen is an unconventional love story between two fighters who discover the greatest challenge lies outside the ring.
Tickets and Information available: here
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Pollyanna
(Cabaret and Variety)
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Hold your cocktails tight! Join host Pollyfilla for a showcase of performance art, drag, DJs and glittery carnage and ‘down-and-dirty joy… a bona fide asset to the Fringe’ **** (Scotsman). ‘Your life is poorer for not having been yet’ ***** (ScotsGay.co.uk). Escape the monotony, come sweat with us this evening. ‘The craziest, filthiest any-hole-will-do cabaret variety night… It’s a show, a happening and a movement’ (ScotsGay.co.uk). ‘A reminder that drag can go wild’ (NotTelevision.com). It’s intimate, it’s messy. ‘For those seeking the edge of queer creative talent, this is not one to miss’ **** (BroadwayBaby.com).
Tickets and info available: here
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Seriously Funny
(Comedy with an Academic Twist)
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11th August!
An evening of comedy that educates and entertains, featuring comedian Bethany Black, and the Staff Pride Network’s own Gina Maya Roberts!
Bethany Black has been a professional stand-up comedian since 2004. In her shows she tells the story of her being transgender, chronicling everything from her coming out through her transition and eventually falling in love. Gina Maya Roberts who is currently doing her research on transgender narratives in pop culture at the University of Edinburgh will reflect on perceptions surrounding transgender people in modern society.
Tickets and info available: here
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Adam
(Theatre/New Writing/Multimedia/LGBT+)
A fascinating story of a trans man moving from Egypt to Glasgow. Very creative staging and visual effects. Brilliantly performed – Adam himself part of the cast. A full 5 stars in my book.Tickets and Showtimes
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At a Stretch
(Children’s/ Physical Theatre/LGBT+)
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| In a big, busy city there’s loads of space. You can jump across rooftops and meet new people every day. But it can be lonely in the big city too. When Mel and Emma meet, something is different and they find themselves on a neon adventure they never expected. A wordless visual theatre production for children and families following the story of two women who meet, get stuck together with elastic and, despite their best efforts, fall in love. Sharp physical comedy, exciting choreography and breathtaking physical theatre from the Fringe First award-winning Jordan and Skinner.
Tickets and showtimes |
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Baby Mama:
One Woman’s quest to give her child to gay people
(Theatre/Solo Show/Storytelling)
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| ‘Funny, moving, and unapologetically candid’ (Time Out New York). Baby Mama tracks one birth mother’s true adoption journey, from conception to placement with the gay couple of her dreams – while still living her life, dating, and attending the occasional orgy. From adoption agencies to vaginal discharge, from burlesque to goodbyes, this intimate night of storytelling is up close and personal. Winner of The Dr Robert J Thierauf Producer’s Pick Award of the Cincinnati Fringe. Bring hankies.
Tickets and showtimes |
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Eve
(New Writing/Solo Show/LGBT+)
An intimate monologue by Jo Clifford about her life and transition. An incredible story and a warm and genuine performance. 5 stars. Tickets and showtimes
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Sweatshop
(Cabaret and Variety/Circus/Music)
Rating: 4/5
Briefs Factory present Sweatshop. If you like “Briefs” and are disappointed that it’s not participating in the festival this year, “Sweatshop” is a dirty alternative. Provocative and not for all tastes, it does away with taboo and provides over an hour of vulgar, in your face entertainment. Not quite the level of the original Briefs show, but still worth going. Tickets and showtimes
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Thanks to Emily Ford-Halliday, Manos Farsarakis, and Remus Valsan for this week’s submissions!
If you’d like to contribute to next week’s digest, please submit a review using this form. |
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[SPN] AGM – 1 Year Anniversary
Wednesday 16th August – 12:30-2:00pm, LT2 Business School
Your Staff Pride Network needs YOU!
Join us for our first AGM to hear about committee vacancies, volunteer opportunities, plans and achievements and celebrate our first birthday– we’ll even have cake! We’re very excited about our future possibilities and hope that you will be too.Please confirm your attendance via EventBrite
[SPN] Monthly Social
Friday 1st September – 5:30pm, The Potting Shed
Continuing our monthly evening socials, join us after work to unwind and meet other network members. Conveniently held on the first Friday after payday. |
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Event Reminder:
August Coffee Afternoon – 9th August 2017
Dear lovely Staff Pride Network members,
As usual we will be meeting for our monthly coffee and cake this Wednesday afternoon (09/08/12) from 1-3pm, this time in Ground Cafe, Chrystal Macmillan Building. This is a little reminder to drop in if you can, whether you are new and want to meet the committee, to meet and greet new members, or to reconnect with old and new friends.We have a special guest attending this time – Jane Norman, the Vice Principal People and Culture – who takes the lead on equality and diversity for the University. Please come along to welcome her to the Network, and share lunchtime treats and chats.
We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, and hope we get some sunshine for the occasion!
Best wishes,
SPN committee
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Welcome to our special Festival Edition of the
Staff Pride Network Newsletter
In an effort to showcase LGBT+ content from around the Edinburgh Festival, we are bringing you this supplementary edition of the Staff Pride Network Newsletter, featuring shows and performances from SPN members, as well as their friends and partners.
As always, we also want to celebrate the achievements of the diverse LGBT+ community across the university. So if you have any news, research or events that you would like to include in the newsletter (August issue due later this month) then please do get in touch – StaffPrideNetwork@ed.ac.uk. |
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A Message From Our Social and Events Officer
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Alex Solomon
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| Hello Staff Pride Network!
I hope you won’t mind that I’ve temporarily commandeered our lovely newsletter to bring you this special Festival edition, packed full of events to watch out for. Whether you’re looking for theatre, music, comedy, or even a night out, there’s something for everyone included below.
Want to get involved?
We’re also giving our members the opportunity to contribute to our weekly Festival Digest, by leaving a show recommendation or review using this form.
Simply fill out the form and we’ll do the rest – the Digest will be sent out to the network each Wednesday during the Festival, in plenty of time for you to check out anything that tickles your fancy.
So don’t be shy, share the love and send in your top picks!
Best wishes,
Alex
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The events below feature the work of Staff Pride Network members.
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4D Cinema
Artist: Mamoru Iriguchi, Operator: Gavin J. Pringle
(Theatre/Live Performance)
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Returning for a limited run as part of the Free Fringe, ‘4D Cinema’ was a hit at last year’s Fringe, receiving 5 stars from the Scotsman and Broadway Baby, as well as a ‘Best Director Award’ from the Asian Arts Awards.
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| Sporting a projector and a screen around his head, performance maker and theatre designer Mamoru Iriguchi turns himself into a mobile cinema. He then performs with a host of Hollywood film stars by dint of black and white classic film clips, with special focus on Marlene Dietrich.
‘4D Cinema’ is a performance piece that explores what is live, and what is recorded and so fixed eternally on film. Iriguchi investigates what it is that films mean to us, in an age where new technology blurs actual and virtual realities.
Showtimes and info available: here |
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A Virus to End Humanity?
Dr. Liam Brierley (Lecture/Spoken Word)
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We’re constantly threatened by outbreaks of diseases like SARS and Ebola.
Can we win the fight against a deadly unidentified infectious disease that has just been discovered at the Edinburgh Fringe? Or is the task of staying one step ahead now too much for scientists? How could this virus arise, where could it come from and what could it mean for you? How fast will it spread from our very feet to the rest of the world?
Join epidemiologist Liam Brierley to see if humans will win the struggle to survive.
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As part of the Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas, Dr Liam Brierley will present ‘A Virus To End Humanity?’, an interactive pandemic scenario investigating where a newly discovered ‘Fringe virus’ might have come from, whether it could spread worldwide, and how it might be controlled. Liam is an epidemiologist with the Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, and completed his PhD within the Centre for Immunity, Infection & Evolution last year.
Tickets and info available: here
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Eaten
Artist/Writer: Mamoru Iriguchi, Assistant Director: Gavin J. Pringle
(Theatre/Young Audience)
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Written and performed by Mamoru Iriguchi, ‘Eaten’ is a highly visual, informative, bonkers, funny and sad show. Targeted at children 6-15 years old and their guardians, ‘Eaten’ will also appeal to folks older than 21, although 15-21 year-olds may be just too cool for school!
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| What if your food started talking back? Meet Lionel the lion. He’s just eaten a human called Mamoru for lunch. But Lionel hasn’t chewed his food well. So Mamoru’s alive and well in his stomach, and now wants to say hello. A strange friendship between the eater and the eaten starts to grow. Meanwhile, Lionel’s breakfast wants to say hello… from his bottom! Eaten invites children and grown-ups to the fascinating world of food chains, asking, “What should we eat?”, and “Who should eat us?!”
Tickets and showtimes available: here |
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Join SPN member Jerrard Doran, as he performs in two concerts with EMT (Edinbugh Music Theatre)!
The first concert, Fringe Fantasmic, is packed with sing-a-long favourites from kids’ films like Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Aladdin, and The Muppets. The second, Anthems: The Movie Musicals, features some of the greatest hits to appear on both stage and screen, with songs from Rent, Cabaret, A Chorus Line, Les Miserables, Guys & Dolls, and many more.
The concerts take place at St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church on George Street from 8th-11th August. Fringe Fantasmic shows at 7:10pm and Anthems: The Movie Musicals at 8:40pm. Tickets to see one of the concerts are £12, £10 concession and £5 for children. Tickets to see both shows on the same night are available on a combo deal through cast members for £18, £15 concession and £7.50 for children. If you would like to book any tickets, please get in touch with Jerrard.Doran@ed.ac.uk!
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Loud and Proud Fringe Concert
(Music/A Capella)
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| Scotland’s LGBT a cappella singing sensation is back at the Fringe! Loud and Proud presents its annual Fringe concert in support of Waverley Care, Scotland’s HIV and Hepatitis C charity. The choir, now in its 12th year, combines Scottish songs, songs from abroad, show tunes, gospel and pop classics – and more! A Fringe event not to be missed. Saturday 19th August at 7.30pm, St Cuthbert’s Parish Church, Lothian Road. Tickets are £14 / £10 concessions and are available now!
Tickets available: here |
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Friends & Partners Showcase
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The events below feature the work of friends & partners of SPN members.
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From Today, Everything Changes
The Oast Theatre (Theatre/LGBT/New Writing)
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A new play
by Ian Tucker-Bell
Before Chris’s wife died, after over 30 years of marriage, she made him promise to be himself. But accepting he’s gay is only the start. Online dating is a whole new world; can this younger man really be interested in him? And how does he come out to his daughter? Written by first time Fringe author Ian Tucker-Bell and brought to Edinburgh by the Oast Theatre, this new play takes a refreshingly honest and tender look at a 60-year-old man coming out and finding love.
Tickets and showtimes: here |
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Limited run: 2nd-13th only!
If you love Donald Trump, you’ll hate this show! Get ready for a hilarious, thought-provoking, heartbreaking yet inspiring experience – in glorious four-part harmony and over-the-top drag!
America’s favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet (and Edinburgh, Off-Broadway and Vegas favourites!) return with their provocative new musical that takes a searing journey into Trumpism, racism, AIDS, giraffes, Bette Midler, oblong vegetables and so much more!
‘All-you-can-enjoy bundle of fabulousness; amazing voices’ (Scotland on Sunday). ‘Wonderfully smart and liberating; hilarious; lovably ribald’ (Times). ‘Hottest ticket in town; voices sweet as birdsong’ (New York Times).
Tickets and showtimes available: here |
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You Need People Like Me
Dean Hendry (Comedy/Stand-up)
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It’s just like the famous ‘bad guy’ scene in Scarface, when Tony Montana rants that iconic phrase, ‘You need people like me…’ to a crowded judgmental restaurant. Just add a Scottish accent, a large dollop of 36 years worth of shame, sprinkle generously with some vulnerability, add a pinch of gay, an epiphany and you have it. Bon appetit! The world is Dean Hendry’s crowded judgmental restaurant. He’s the misunderstood bad guy and he’s finally OK with it, because actually, you need people like him. Trust us.
Tickets and showtimes available: here |
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[SPN] August Coffee Afternoon
Wednesday 9th August – 1:00-3:00pm, Ground (Chrystal Macmillan Building)
Join us at our regular monthly coffee afternoon (in a slightly different venue this month due to the Festival). Please drop in any time for a coffee and cake, catch up with your LGBT+ colleagues and meet some of our committee. This month we will be joined by Professor Jane Norman, Vice-Principal for People and Culture.
Dive presents Homage
Saturday 26th August – 9pm-Late, Charlotte Square Spiegeltent
Promising to blow fresh glitter up the arse of any festival in their wake, Dive Queer Party are back with their sell out Fringe 2016 hit “Homage” with a special literary plot twist for Edinburgh International Book Festival. Chief weirdo Miss Annabel Sings is on a mission to the four corners of the rainbow, showcasing a smorgasbord of homegrown performance talent alongside a handpicked selection of international guest stars. Strap yourself in for a mind-blowing, fast-paced celebration of the heroes of queer culture from books, music, film and fashion from the past 70 years – in the year that also marks 50 years since the UK decriminalization of homosexuality. Follow this link for more info.
Dive presents The Last Night on Earth Cabaret Party
Monday 28th August – 7pm-Late, Charlotte Square Spiegeltent
Ladies, gentlemen and everything in between! Anarchic entertainers Dive Queer Party are conjuring the spirit of ’47 to stage a closing cabaret party of epic proportions. With fakery making the headlines and the rest of the world falling apart around our ears the glitter-spattered minds at Dive Towers have had time to reflect: what would we do on our last night on earth? Well this, obviously. Join Miss Annabel Sings, the Dive family and the queerest pick n mix of the Fringe as they conga their way into a brave new world – one where you can be whoever you want to be, however you want to be, whenever you want to be. It’s the closing night of the festival so party like it’s your last! Follow this link for more info.
[SPN] Monthly Social
Friday 1st September – 5:30pm, The Potting Shed
Continuing our monthly evening socials, join us after work to unwind and meet other network members. Conveniently held on the first Friday after payday. |
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By Anabel Noelke & Jonathan MacBride
As part of February’s LGBT+ History Month calendar, Anabel Noelke hosted a seminar ‘LGBT+ and the Media’. Both staff and students attended and after an introduction and video showing her research Anabel led a vibrant discussion. The following month Anabel presented her research at Dentsu in London and has since been published in a journal. The following email was sent on 15th March to the entire Business School staff mailing list and it made me proud to see my workplace promoting a colleague’s work in the LGBT+ sphere.
Email:
I’m delighted to let you know about a tremendous piece of engagement and knowledge exchange arising from Ana-isabel Noelke’s PhD research that she undertook last week in London. Anabel was invited to speak about her research to employees of the Dentsu Aegis Network, a multinational media and digital marketing communications company headquartered in London, owned by Japanese advertising and public relations firm Dentsu.
Anabel spoke to around 50 practitioners, including some clients such as Diageo and Vodafone, as well as representatives from Campaign UK, Marketing Week and Buzzfeed. She was also interviewed by the Campaign UK reporter for a piece she is writing on the topic.
The talk revolved around the history of LGBT portrayals in advertising and recent changes based on her recently accepted sole-authored Journal of Homosexuality publication:
Making Diversity Conform? An Intersectional, Longitudinal Analysis of LGBT-Specific Mainstream Media Advertisements.
She discussed the challenges of advertising to any stigmatised/marginalised consumer group as well as the harm that can come from the use of stereotypes or tropes, before describing the ways in which brands have navigated the issue in recent years – for example through the use of TV or print ‘trailer’ ads combined with ‘Human Interest’ ads or ‘making-off’ videos online. She drew on quotes from her qualitative research to illustrate how different types of portrayals and ad formats were experienced by participants, before ending the talk with three successful features of LGBT advertising and six suggestions for best practice.
Anabel’s presentation was followed by just under two hours of networking and informal discussion with participants, and she has been asked if she would come back to present to a client-oriented event later in the year.
Anabel has also developed a video to tell her research story, which has been shared with Dentsu Aegis and is on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X82Q8QW8IJQ&t=12s
It is really inspiring to see how Anabel’s research is already making a difference and what an excellent ambassador she is for the School and the PhD programme!
By Ali McDonald
In January along with two colleagues, I attended the Stonewall Scotland LGBT and Internationalisation Seminar, hosted by the University of Dundee. Having worked in International Student Support for over 8 years and more recently becoming a Staff Dignity and Respect Advisor, this sounded right up my street. Part of our remit in the International Student Advisory Service is to provide help and guidance to students transitioning into their lives in Edinburgh – though we currently offer a lot of cultural advice and highlight the diverseness of our ever-expanding international campus, do we explicitly offer sufficient support and advice to LGBT+ students at the pre-arrival and induction stage? This was one of numerous questions I had in my mind whilst travelling through to Dundee.
The seminar itself was really thought-provoking and had great representation from Universities throughout Scotland and Northern England. Early in the seminar, we were split into teams for a quiz. Our team sadly didn’t win however we did learn some stark facts, such as: Same sex relationships or sexual acts is illegal in 76 countries and homosexuality is punishable by death in 13 countries – scarily, this number is actually on the increase.
Through a variety of discussions and knowledge sharing between the Universities, I felt proud of the University of Edinburgh and the work we have already done in this area. BLOGS – the LGBT+ Student Society are very active and it’s fantastic to see the LGBT+ staff network has been newly revived. The International Student Advisory Service also provides a lot of pre-arrival advice and cultural support to students, particularly highlight the diverseness of our campuses and how we promote inclusivity. There is definitely more we can do in this area and I am keen to develop this further.
We are quick to celebrate – and rightly so – how wonderfully diverse our University is, with staff and students coming here from over 135 countries. Each individual will arrive with their own set of values, beliefs and ideology. It’s important to acknowledge and appreciate an individual’s journey is not linear and with such a diverse staff and student body, it is inevitable that beliefs and values will unfortunately clash. I believe our job as representatives of the University is to encourage open, honest but most importantly accepting and understanding conversation with no judgements made. I think our biggest challenge here is with such a diverse population, how do we promote inclusivity whilst not excluding any particular group at the same time?
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