53
Local drag act debuts familyfriendly queer shows
ADAM CARVER
) Adam Carver, aka Birmingham drag act Fatt Butcher, is a creative producer and theatre maker. They are also the artistic director of the newly launched Fatt Projects and its first project is Big Fatt, which is a programme of queer-positive, family-friendly performances starting with the pioneering PALAVER!. Fatt Projects said: “PALAVER! will create a disruptive, messy, joyful, and celebratory season of inclusive performance programming for children aged three to eight and family audiences, supporting the development of high quality performance that provides essential representation, space, and dialogue celebrating queer identities for children and families.” PALAVER! will combine three strands of activity, first: “Delivering a series of three facilitated artist-development labs at Cambridge exploring the radical potential of queer work for young audiences through up-skilling and empowering six of the UK’s leading queer artists to start developing new performance work.”
Birmingham Bulls RFC announces new sponsorship deal Birmingham Bulls RFC stated: “We’re looking forward to work[ing] together over the coming season with lots of events in the pipeline, including our 10th anniversary celebrations. Sponsorship by one of the longest established LGBTQ+ venues in Birmingham will help keep us at the heart of the community we come from.”
) Birmingham Bulls, an inclusive rugby team in Birmingham, is “always ready to welcome new players to join us at any time, regardless of experience, age or orientation”. It was founded in 2011 and competes in the Greater Birmingham Merit League, as well as playing friendly matches with other LGBTQ+ and inclusive rugby clubs across the country.
The club added that the bar would feature on the team’s kit, and will be the home of the Bulls after matches, on nights out, and for its upcoming anniversary. David Cumpston, club chair, said: "We are overjoyed to have the support from the Village, allowing us to remain in the centre of Birmingham’s LGBTQ+ community."
The Village Inn added: “We are absolutely delighted to be the official team sponsors of Birmingham’s allinclusive rugby team Birmingham Bulls The club, which also hosts the annual RFC for the season 2021/22! We’re really Touch My Brum touch rugby tournament, and in 2023 will be hosting excited to work with them over the next year and wish them amazing success this the Union Cup, was proud to reveal a season.” new sponsorship deal for its 2021–22 season with one of the city’s longestD For more info, visit: standing LGBTQ+ venues, the Village www.birminghambullsrfc.com Inn.
PALAVER! ACTS
Birmingham LGBT agrees new premises These development labs will “include producer support, production and development resources, and test performance opportunities. Each lab will be followed by additional development time, culminating in the creation of six performance extracts ready for development into full-scale productions”. The second strand of PALAVER!’s objective is the audience-focused one that offers the public a programme of family-friendly queer performances that will take place at Cambridge Junction this month. There will be three Sunday morning PALAVER! parties on October 3 and October 17, “bringing together disco, drag, dress-up, games, and scratch performances of work created on development labs.” This part of the project will then culminate in the PALAVER! Festival that takes place during half-term on Thursday, October 28. This will be “a day-long celebration of inclusive programming celebrating the potential of queer positive performance work, including a showcase of the six new performance works developed over the project”. The final strand of PALAVER! is to invite producers, programmers, artistic directors, venue managers, artists and independent creatives to the PALAVER! Symposium on Wednesday, October 27. This is “a day-long event of interactive workshops, panel discussions, LGBTQ+ awareness training, and open conversations on artist development, emotional labour, marketing, and venue accessibility.” PALAVER! is supported by Cambridge Junction through its Vision Mixer’s programme, Marlborough Productions, and Arts Council England. ) Tickets for all the events are on sale now from www.junction.co.uk or contact hello@fattprojects.org for more info.
) Birmingham LGBT, a registered charity working with the city’s LGBTQ+ community, has agreed on a relocation to a new home in the Southside District.
home of the centre for years. However, with the lease on our offices coming to an end, and the building potentially being redeveloped, we needed to look for new premises.
The new premises, part of a new development on Lower Essex Street, in the heart of Birmingham’s LGBTQ+ village, will “occupy more than 5,000 sq ft in a ground-floor commercial unit facing a new public square, which will link Hurst Street with Lower Essex Street.”
“As a charity delivering services to the LGBTQ+ community, we really want to stay in Southside as it’s important we are located within the community. The new purpose-built centre in Lower Essex Street will mean our future in the area is secure.”
D For more info, visit: Steph Keeble, director of Birmingham https://blgbt.org LGBT, said: “Southside has been the
