New Queer Voices, Outspoken
Patterflash! is a literary variety show, combining the best traditions of live literature with all the energy and verve of queer performance.
We will draw upon the range of queer life--from ballroom culture to protest movements, from house music to cabaret, from drag to stand-up, from pride to the 'gay language' Polari--to vivify our stories of contemporary queer Britain.
Six writers of diverse backgrounds (spanning three religions, three ethnic groups and three genders) will travel to Edinburgh to perform this exciting new show: Tara Ali Din, Jane Bradley, Barnaby Callaby, Jamal Gerald, Adam Lowe and Rebecca Swarray. (For more about our writers, visit our writers' page.)
In Brief
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Young Enigma is a not-for-profit collective of young and emerging LGBT writers based in the North of England.
- We have been invited to take our unique brand of literary performance to Edinburgh Free Fringe (Peter Buckley Hill Free Fringe), where we can reach new audiences, share skills with local community groups and raise awareness for LGBT issues.
- This opportunity puts young queer voices in the limelight--allowing us to speak up and speak out about our lived experiences, to celebrate LGBT culture and to push the boundaries between writing and performance.
- As part of our commitment to the community, we will also be providing coverage of other LGBT events that form part of the Free Fringe, to raise the profile of LGBT organisers and performers in the UK. This coverage will be published by our media partners, Vada Magazine, allowing us to reach over 50,000 readers each month.
Why Support Us?
A generation of young people currently faces low employment prospects, increasing living costs and unaffordable housing. LGBT young people face additional pressures, including increased risk of self-harm and suicide, homelessness, substance misuse issues, mental health issues, being bullied and social exclusion. Young Enigma hopes to overcome some of these challenges through artistic interventions and a scheme of personal and professional development.
Young Enigma offers a tailored package of support to young people aged 13-35, in order to create a next generation of community leaders and peer mentors who can be the role models of tomorrow. Young Enigma develops young people's employability and confidence, and supports young people in pursuing fulfilling careers in the arts. Members of Young Enigma work directly with youth and community groups to educate, inspire and record LGBT experiences, and to fight homophobia and transphobia in society.
Through our wider activities, Young Enigma supports young people and the LGBT community to engage with high-quality arts activities and their own LGBT cultural heritage. We do this through prizes and competitions, workshops, educational resources for schools, publications, performances and lectures.
Praise for Young Enigma
'fresh and creative' Gabriella Swirling
‘original, refreshing’ The Public Reviews
'a stunning string of performances' Mancunian Matters
'breathtaking . . . exquisite' Vada Magazine
What We Need & What You Get
We have asked for a very modest sum of £3,000. This will support us in:
- Travelling to Edinburgh.
- Paying for accommodation for six nights.
- Performing our literary variety show for five nights.
- Documenting the show (photography and video).
- Publishing a showreel of the performance for the public.
- Providing opportunities to share skills with local LGBT groups.
- Attending LGBT events to provide additional exposure in Vada Magazine.
If we exceed this sum, we can do even more:
- £3,500 will support us in developing a wider programme of outreach workshops with local community groups and LGBT youth.
- £4,000 will enable us to create a package of short workshop films for young people, including tips on writing and performing, that can be accessed online for free.
- £5,000 will allow us to tour our performance so that we can perform it in other cities around the country.
As part of our not-for-profit constitution, any surplus funds are reinvested in supporting young LGBT artists. For this reason, every penny really does help. You can ensure the future growth of our organisation and the opportunities we can offer to young people who may face additional difficulties because of their sexuality and/or gender identity.
The Impact
Patterflash! is important to us for a number of reasons:
- It acts as a living document of LGBT stories, drawn from our research over the last 18 months as LGBT History Month Writers in Residence and Manchester Pride Writers in Residence.
- It maintains and enlivens the 'gay language' Polari, once considered dead by linguists, and brings it into the context of contemporary LGBT experiences.
- It explores new ways of performing literature for live audiences--from dance to drag--in a way that appeals to a wider cross-section of society.
- It will engage new audiences who might not see their own stories reflected in mainstream culture and who may not otherwise attend literary or theatre events.
- It will form the basis for a new show which can be toured around schools and community groups. This is part of our aim to engage people in the arts and to challenge homophobia and transphobia in all areas of society.
We have an excellent track record in this regard.
- We produced five writers' commissions, including a day of performances, for LGBT History Month 2013 as the LGBT History Month Writers in Residence.
- We have produced live shows for Greater Manchester Fringe, Manchester Literature Festival and Queer Contact.
- We have performed with stellar writers and performers such as Jackie Kay, Patience Agbabi and Gerry Potter.
- Our writers have delivered workshops in schools, prisons, universities and community settings.
- Between us we have awards, books, magazines, commissions, plays, films and songs under our belts.
(Find our more about past events and performances)
Other Ways You Can Help
So what if you can't help us financially? Well there are other ways you can support us:
- You can use the Indiegogo share tools to help us spread the word.
- You can interview one or more of our group for your publication or website.
- You can offer to distribute flyers and promotional literature to local venues.
- You can come and see our show (it's free!).
- You can ask a local theatre, library, school or community group to book us.
- You can lead a guest workshop in your own area of expertise.
- You can like our Facebook page or follow our Twitter account.
See you in Edinburgh!
The Empress reads her honours list of contributors so far here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDmfQAexZG4&...
