Here and Queer!
Here, Queer, and Mentally Unclear is being co-produced by Izzy Joan and Bradley Birkholz.
Izzy Joan is a performer, singer, producer, and actor who is diagnosed with bipolar disorder and who identifies as bisexual. She created and performed in the original adaptation of this piece titled 'Bi/Bi/Baby', in which she explored the relationship between her mental health and sexuality. Eventually she decided to open up the project to the entire LGBTQ+ community, and that's where Here, Queer, and Mentally Unclear was born!
Bradley Birkholz is an LGBTQ+ YouTuber, activist, and performer who was recently named as one of Wales most influential LGBT+ persons on the 2018 Pinc List. He's also a drag artist by the name of Bella Tempus, and he's passionate about facilitating discussions in the LGBTQ+ community that aren't being held elsewhere. He also frequently discusses his battles with anxiety on his channel, as well as LGBT+ issues.
Here, Queer, and Mentally Unclear attempts to do something that has seldom been done before. It seeks to bring light to the mental health struggles unique to the LGBTQ+ community, reduce stigma, educate, and simultaneously entertain. Mental health is truly not discussed enough in society, and especially the immense struggles we face in the LGBTQ+ community with mental health -- and with your help that message could get out to a wider audience and have a bigger impact.
The Money Stuff
It's really important to us to be fully transparent in this project. This is a collaborative effort to make a mark on society -- and we want you to be as involved in that process as possible. Unfortunately, we can't do it on our own -- so here's the breakdown of where your support would go:
- We're currently seeking roughly £5,000 in total.
- This would go to paying performers, paying for travel and accommodation for the team, as well as paying for equipment and any other necessities. We sincerely believe that everyone should get paid for the work that they do as artists, and with a higher budget we could ensure more diversity with our performers and a bigger team, rather than having to essentially put this entire show on ourselves.
- If we don't make our goal, the show will still be extremely limited to the scope, number of performers, diversity, longevity, and over all impact of the project.
Let's Make a Difference Together
We would love to take this project much farther than the two scheduled performances we have right now. Some of our long term goals include:
- Turning the production into a national or even global educational theatre tour.
- Transforming the production into a short film or even web-series focused on balancing education with entertainment.
- Creating a compelling social media campaign of awareness for the dangers of mental illness in the LGBTQ+ community, where support can be found, and what we can do as a society to make meaningful change.
Right now our biggest limitation is, truly, funding. We have the drive to make these dreams a reality, but both Izzy and Bradley have day jobs they have to work to pay the bills and rent. If we could get enough funding we could commit fully to this project and the impact it could have.
Get Involved In Other Ways!
We know that not everyone can afford to help, and we would love to still have you involved in this movement! Here's how you can get involved:
- Share this campaign on your social media, and encourage those around you to donate.
- Get involved on social media, tweet us, make posts about the production, share our social media posts, and just generally make a lot of noise surrounding LGBT+ mental health!
- If you're a performer, marketer, director, or anything else and have something you could offer us, whether in skills, equipment, et al, please don't hesitate to get in touch (hereandqueerproductions@gmail.com)!
Thanks for reading! We're excited to involve you in this journey and make Here, Queer, and Mentally Unclear as impactful as possible!