Brighton’s Marlborough Theatre has been awarded £81,768 funding from Arts Council England to run an extensive year-long programme of performances and events under the title Growth Spurt, starting late July 2018.
Following on from the success of the last ACE funded project Queer for All Seasons (QFAS) 2017, Growth Spurt sees the Marlborough deliver mini festivals and seasons programmed around specific themes such as Trans Pride, Queer Heroes and We Are Family.
Trans Pride launches on Thursday 19 July with Trans Pride Art Night featuring Emma Frankland headlining a mixed bill of performances, and Juno Dawson’s Lovely Trans Literary Salon hosted by acclaimed author Juno Dawson on Thursday 26 July. Two days before Britney Spears headlines Brighton Pride, Jo Hague performs their autobiographical show If Britney Can Get Through 2007, We Can Get Through This with a love punk band on Thursday 2 August. The Marlborough, New Writing South, Trans Pride and The Centre for the Study of Sexual Dissidence have also commissioned a writer in residence for the duration of Trans Pride Week.
This November, Queer Heroes is a celebration of the famous queers we idolise and are inspired by, in association with ACCA, Uni of Sussex, featuring celebrations of Grace Jones, Audre Lorde and Madonna plus many more. Artists involved include Rachael Young and Lucy McCormick.
For We Are Family, Hester Chillingworth has written a specially commissioned trans-positive pantomime for which will premiere at the Marlborough 18-20 December.
Growth Spurt continues with Fat Pride in February 2019, a theme voted for by The Marlborough Theatre’s audience, as well as a season devoted to Self Care and Radical Softness in April 2019, featuring performance artist FK Alexander.
Growth Spurt comes at a time where the Marlborough Team celebrate 10 years of current management and continue the support and programming of radical queer artists and performers in their much-loved theatre. As well, Growth Spurt will see the launch of INDEPENDENT, a new event taking place at Brighton’s Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, giving those working within the National Live Art Sector that are not National Portfolio the chance to share space and ideas.
The Marlborough Theatre has been run by Community Interest Company Marlborough Productions since 2010, the team comprises of the three Creative Producers Abby Butcher, David Sheppeard and Tarik Elmoutawakil, as well as Programme Coordinator Ema Boswood and Programme Assistant Ellie Stanton. Their programme comprises a huge variety of Live Art, theatre, performance art, spoken word and live literature from home grown emerging talents to nationally acclaimed artists & companies, specialising in fore fronting LGBTQ+ narratives.
Creative Producer Abby Butcher says “It is hugely important for us to showcase performance which is representative of a wide range of LGBTQ+ identities with an intersectional programme of radical and innovative work. We are delighted to be presenting this programme and thank Arts Council England and our partners for supporting some of the most exciting and diverse artists in the UK.”
