BLOWN AWAY BY A TRIP TO ALTERNATIVE LONDON CABARET NIGHT SINK THE PINK, BETH HAYDEN AND HER FRIEND DANIEL POWER (BOTH 25) DECIDED TO SET UP THEIR OWN DIY ‘QUEER VARIETY SHOW’. IN AUTUMN 2016, GLITTER HOLE WAS BORN.
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“Obviously the scale is different, but that’s the sort of atmosphere we try to capture for the show,” says Beth. “With the audience members, sometimes they come in drag and it feels like more like a community than a show, when the audience is very separate from the performer.” Glitter HOLE now takes place every few months in Jigsaw, a small community space near Mountjoy Square. One of the group’s original motivations was to create a safe space for queer people where they could express themselves however they liked. “We’re very open,” she says. “We don’t really care about what kind of performances feature; in any given show there would be drag, and there would be comedy and music and sometimes there’s something even more left-of-centre. Like one time, we had a rollerblading duo!” The Glitter HOLE gang has five core members, but has always included guest acts, from feminist comedians and musicians, to drag kings and queens: “The main change would be as we’ve got a bit more popular, there’s more people coming to us asking to perform rather than us searching for people.” Alison Spittle was a guest performer at a recent show, but the group also welcomes first timers and people who might not fit into any particular category. “For all of us, the Glitter HOLE gang, none of us have performance backgrounds whatsoever, we’re all total amateurs. So it does have a very DIY feel to it. I think it’s a nice addition to the scene in Dublin,” says Beth. So what does the future hold for this barrier-breaking troupe? “We’d love to do a full-length show. Maybe less of a variety show, somewhere between a drag show and a play. But I think our focus is always going to be on the smaller variety show, and creating that safe space.” Glitter HOLE’s next show will be at Jigsaw on July 20 at 8.30pm.
Glitter HOLE L-R: The Glitter HOLE Gang
Words: Aoife Moriarty
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28/05/2018 20:16