Queer The City: Recent Episodes
Homotopia
A special chat at last year's Homotopia Festival 2021, outside Liverpool's iconic Metropolitan cathedral with award winning transgender performance poet, speaker and educator Jay Hulme. Listen to Jay chat to our festival director, Char Binns, about his love of poetry, exploring churches and the relationship between religion and sexuality.
Content warning: This episode contains mentions of fire, death and features strong, suggestive and sexual language and mentions of violence/murder so please listen with caution.
Our last Pearl Necklace offers up a Candle Wax Erotica, the Confessions of a Night Club Janitor and a charming bouquet of auditory ephemera. So, lean back, darling, pour yourself a tall glass of Shloer and warm your bunion by the fire as you settle down for one last chapter in this torrid little affair...
Content Warning: mentions of violence, sex and liberace.
This weeks installment features an Ode to Celery, the Cranberries and the 'Crack of Dawn' - an elderly woman's vigilante war against crime
Content Warning: features strong, suggestive and sexual language and mention of violence/murder.
This week’s episode features an epicurean dung diary, some doggy dating profiles and a local cab driver’s new hobby! Fasten your seatbelts, girls it’s going to be a blumpy ride!
A new audio series for Homotopia Festival 2021 Pearl Necklace is a 6 part Round the Horne inspired absurdist queer sketch revue for the TikTok generation, celebrating the ingenuity (and ignorance!) of the LGBTIQA community past, present and future, recorded and broadcast in Liverpool as part of Homotopia Festival 21’ in partnership with DISTRICT & FRIGHTWIG.
In this week's Pearl Necklace we encounter a local Queer Community Radio station repeatedly interrupted by Bad News Farm, panel organisers desperately seeking diversity and the recollections of an ageing hollywood actress.
Content Warning: informal mention of suicide, sex and violence. reference to racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism.
Sound editing and production by Luke Thomas(lukethomasmusic.com)
Written and narrated by Jade Anouka and Grace Savage. Getting ready to become parents is a daunting task. Add in that both parents are the same sex, and it becomes a whole lot more complicated.
When Jade and Grace decided to have a baby together, they trawled the internet for resources on queer parenting. Despite having a world of information at the swipe of a thumb and decades of LGBTQIA parents who have pioneered the way, relatable information was seriously lacking.
In this short audio narrative commissioned by Homotopia, Jade and Grace reflect on their journey so far, their hopes for future queer parents and all that they still have to learn.
Introduced and guided by Roger Hill, we tour two sites on Homotopia’s Art Crawl with guest Rebecca Clark from Mooncup Theatre Between by Soph Welton on the front window of The Bagelry, Nelson Street birds of a feather flock together, aka: A New Family Portrait by OyH on the Baltic Creative building, Jamaica Street Images from the series To Be Frank by Michael Parry at the Digital Exhibition Window at Open Eye Gallery, Mann Island.
Introduced and guided by Roger Hill, we tour three sites on Homotopia’s Art Crawl with a guest Lesha Palmer Black People Built Liverpool by Kiara Mohamed, inside the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. ‘Multitransitional’ by Colin Lievens on the poster hoarding at Great George Street. Audio Produced by Laura Brown Series produced by Alex Ferguson on behalf of Homotopia With support from BBC Radio Merseyside Visit Homotopia dot net for more info
Award-winning playwright Marjorie H Morgan will give us an intersectional approach to the Albert Docks area – anchored to the city, to family, to self. Unity Theatre Co-commission. Written and performed by Marjorie H Morgan Audio Produced by Laura Brown Series produced by Alex Ferguson on behalf of Homotopia A Unity Theatre Co-Commission With support from BBC Radio Merseyside Visit Homotopia dot net for more info
Roger Hill explores the notion of queering the city? What is urban planning, how does it shape where and how we live? Who makes the decisions and where do they come from? How does your race and your gender influence urban design? Gender mainstreaming makes us consider gender in building and planning, how do we consider race and sexuality, age? Combining a personal and reflective history of Liverpool, with an interview with a city planner, perhaps. Helping to create a sense of perspective and understanding to tell audiences what the series will be about and what the terms will mean. Audio Produced by Laura Brown Series produced by Alex Ferguson on behalf of Homotopia With support from BBC Radio Merseyside Visit Homotopia.net for more info
Introduced and guided by Roger Hill, we tour two sites on Homotopia’s Art Crawl with a guest, Felix Mufti Wright. Trans Rights Poster Series by Fox Fisher on Blundell Lane on the side of The Bluecoat. Marsha by Sophie Green at Paradise Street, Liverpool One. Chris by Millie Chesters at College Lane, Liverpool One. Millie is an illustrator based in Runcorn who brings her sketchbooks to life in her art @MillieChester milliechesters.com Audio Produced by Laura Brown Series produced by Alex Ferguson on behalf of Homotopia With support from BBC Radio Merseyside Visit Homotopia.net for more info
Mo Svendsen gives us a dystopian sci-fi, which revisits past queer love walking through Eberle Street in the Gay Quarter. Unity Theatre Co-commission. Written by Mo Svendsen Performed by Nadine Amami Audio Produced by Laura Brown Series produced by Alex Ferguson on behalf of Homotopia A Unity Theatre Co-Commission With support from BBC Radio Merseyside Visit Homotopia.net for more info
Maz Hedgehog gives us a look at heartbreak, and healing, and being brave enough to feel again, set along Dale Street. Unity Theatre Co-commission.
Written and performed by Maz Hedgehog Audio Produced by Laura Brown Series produced by Alex Ferguson on behalf of Homotopia A Unity Theatre Co-Commission With support from BBC Radio Merseyside Visit Homotopia.net for more info
Associate Artist Ashleigh Owen tells us of coming back to Liverpool and finding their queer tribe after walking out of a life-changing theatre show onto Williamson Square. Unity Theatre Co-commission.
Written and Performed by Ashleigh Owen Audio Produced by Laura Brown Series produced by Alex Ferguson on behalf of Homotopia A Unity Theatre Co-Commission With support from BBC Radio Merseyside With thanks to the Royal Court Theatre Visit Homotopia.net for more info
Our Artist-in-residence Fox Fisher will give a visitor’s perspective on the city, walking from Lime Street through town and talking to the city’s trans community as they do. Unity Theatre Co-commission. Written and Performed by Fox Fisher Audio Produced by Laura Brown Series produced by Alex Ferguson on behalf of Homotopia A Unity Theatre Co-Commission With support from BBC Radio Merseyside Visit Homotopia.net for more info
Liverpool’s resident Non-Binary, Nudey-Rudey, Shiny-Whiny Poet Day Mattar gives us a Queer Fairy Tale based on their experiences in St James’ Garden (just below the Anglican Cathedral). Unity Theatre Co-commission. Written and Performed by Day Mattar Audio Produced by Laura Brown Series produced by Alex Ferguson on behalf of Homotopia A Unity Theatre Co-Commission With support from BBC Radio Merseyside Visit Homotopia.net for more info
Silsilad Gabay, is a responsive audio experience, led by Our Space and commissioned by Homotopia.
Bringing together eight QTIPoC artists from all over the world, to curate a digital chain of creative interactions between artists, Silsilad Gabay will take you on a journey filled with poetry, spoken word, original music and singing, streams of consciousness and more.
Show your support for QTIPOC artists and purchase the audio file here: https://ourspaceleeds.com/shop.html#!/products/silsilad-gabay-audio-experience
To skip to the start of the artists’ contribution go to 7:33.
Participating artists: Our Space lead artist Dahab IG: @OurSpaceLeeds Axelle IG: @Queeraxtivist Monthati Masebe Youtube: Monthati Masebe / IG & Twitter: @Monthati_m / Digital Streaming Platforms: Ruby Poxy (CW: brief mention of gender-based violence) Maroodi IG: @abdimaroodi CW: gender discomfort / dysphoria Marlanda Dekine-sapient Soul Digital Streaming Platforms: Ruby: Sapient Soul /Website: http://sapientsoul.com/ Vijay Patel Twitter: @vpateltheatre / IG: vijayrajpatel92 (CW: Black Lives Matter protests, loud noises, mental health, neurodivergence, COVID-19) Nahi Mitti (Nahi Mitti) IG: @nahi_mitti Yas Lime IG: @Yas_Lime_ / Website: https://yasmynart.wixsite.com/work (CW: Black Lives Matter protests including the names of people killed by police brutality, loud sounds) Nidaaro IG & Twitter: @nidaaro (CW: Anti-Black racism & colourism) Our Space lead artist Sayang IG: @saya.n.g / @OurSpaceLeeds
Our Space website and shop: www.ourspaceleeds.com
MUSIC CREDITS: Sodewow by Maryan Mursal Healer by JNE william feat. Theophilius London Healer by Sampa The Great Wrestlemania 20 by Westside Gunn feat. Anderson Paak No Evil by Mpho Sebina Sink or Swim by Jacob Banks Home by Ila J Original music and vocals by Monthati Masebe Somali folk music Go Down Moses by Soprano Jazmin Black Grollemnud IG: @sopranomund Music by Marlanda Marlanda Dekine-Sapient Soul Go Down Moses originally by Marian Anderson A sample of Chris Smoove: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnzbVkknmqhRqUKg7RDTDeg A sample of "Asia Travel Company", by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Yuzo Koshiro, Takeshi Yanagawa, Osamu Murata and Ryuji Iuchi, from the Shenmue Passport Disc. The Moon and the Prince from the Katamari Damacy Soundtrack. All credit to Namco. Music and lyrics by Akitaka Tohyama. Vocals by Kenji Ninuma and Fumina. Performance by Afro-Peruvian artist and activist Victoria Santa Cruz titled “Mi gritarone negro (They called me black)” Traditional Folklore southern somali dance called “Gabley Shimbir” Wedding/war dance called “Siday ‘iisaha”