Tickets for FEMFEST
Is it a bird? Yes! Is it a plane? No! Please welcome to the stage the flocking fabulous Femfest 2024!!
FemFest is happening from 7th - 10th March 2024 at The Actors and The Feminist Bookshop and we can’t wait to see you all there.
We've got 27 events, including: Theatre, Cabaret, Workshops, Comedy and much much more from AFAB, Non-Binary, Queer and Trans creatives from across the UK! We can't wait to see you all there for a big old Feminist Party.
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Thursday 7TH MARCH
Pleasure Chapters: No More Salad
INEKA COLLECTIVE
EARLY CAREER ARTIST
7th March 6PM Upstairs @ The Actors
DANCE
Claim your freedom, dance like wolves, and savor the pasta of liberation Join the "Pleasure Chapters: No more Salad!" by Ineka Collective, a spirited female-led ensemble from around the world. We craft empowering theatre dance performances, guiding you to discover joy and balance. Dive into the culinary clash of "TO EAT or NOT TO EAT?"—a playful exploration that redefines self-acceptance and pleasure.
Drawversity
JADE HYLTON She/Her
7th March 7PM Upstairs @ The Actors
LIFE DRAWING
Introducing POC to Life Modelling, making changes to the class, colour & creed of Life Drawing The Drawversity figure drawing programme was conceived by Jade Hylton with the aim of introducing more people of colour to life modelling.
Lucy's Pharmakon
OPEN HANDED THEATRE
7th March 7.30PM Upstairs @ The Actors
THEATRE
Is a virtual life the key to happiness? Lucy's found the cure for her loveless marriage - the perfect life generated by virtual reality and AI. But as her reality starts to slip away, is her cure more of a curse? With a story of Fleabag meets Black Mirror, this hilarious and moving new play from Open Handed Theatre explores technology’s impact on mental health and how we can create a life worth living (or hide away from it).
Friday 8TH MARCH
LINDA(?)
ELLIE BREWSTER She/They
EARLY CAREER ARTIST
8th March 6PM Upstairs @ The Actors
COMEDY
Pure panic. Pure joy. Pure cake. LINDA(?) is serving woman, cake and chaos. Self proclaimed hostess with the mostess, she’s ecstatic to create the perfect wo-cake -she meant cake! The perfect cake. So are you ready, dearly beloved guests, to don your fanciest frocks and let’s raise a glass for the best time of our lives.
Body Pots Pottery Workshop
CLAY WILD STUDIO
8th March 7PM Downstairs @ The Actors
WORKSHOP
Make a body pot out of air-drying clay - torsos, boobs, top-surgery, bums, hands, faces… anything & everything is welcome! Participants will be learning hand-building techniques and will be guided through how to personalise their creations. This is a celebration of all bodies in whatever way feels joyful and comfortable for you.
FemFest Poetry Night
NAOMI WOOD & THE FEMINIST BOOKSHOP
8th March 7.00PM The Feminist Bookshop
POETRY
FemFest’s annual Poetry Night at the Feminist Bookshop! Featuring established and new poets and hosted by Naomi Wood. Join Naomi Wood and a line-up of glorious artists as they woo you with Poetry for the evening.
With 50% of profits going to Survivors' Network.
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5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche
BACCHAE THEATRE COMPANY
8th March 7.30PM Upstairs @ The Actors
THEATRE
OOOHHH Quiche - Respect the Egg The play is “5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche” comedy by Andrew Hobgood and Evan Linder – set in 1956 America. “The Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein are having their annual quiche breakfast. Will they be able to keep their cool when Communists threaten their idyllic town?”
Monument
TATENDA NAOMI MATSVAI They/Them
8th March 8.00PM Upstairs @ The Actors
SPOKEN WORD THEATRE
You, me and all these memories I’m building a monument, of what, i don’t know yet. But will you build it with me? ‘Monument’ is a tender exploration of connection, family and memory through poetry, archival films and live looping. Monument asks what we return to for comfort during loss.
101 Damn Asians
MILD PERIL
8th March 9.00PM Upstairs @ The Actors
DRAG
An all-Asian alternative drag cabaret I101 Damn Asians is a tongue-in-cheek celebration of camp, sexiness and queer Asian identities, with a cast of fabulous drag artists and lots of bad puns. Hosted by Lipsync1000 finalist Mild Peril and with performances from Gem the Clown, Prince of Persia, Desi Maria and Goo, prepare to be charmed, wowed and intrigued!
Saturday 9TH MARCH
FEMFÊTE
FEMFEST
9th March 12PM & 2PM Upstairs @ The Actors
EVENT
The first annual FemFête - featuring crafts, local makers, live performance and immaculate vibes. Join FemFest for a drop in afternoon of crafting, live performance and more. Collaging materials will be provided to create your own "Dead Icons" collage.
Banana Beard
SU MI She/Her
9th March 1.30PM Upstairs @ The Actors
COMEDY
Welcome to the Wonderfully weird Banana Beard! Think it’s a Stand up solo show? Think again. This immersive comedy invites you all on a surreal misadventure of absurdist sketch , untamed thrash metal guitar solos and imaginary costumed personas. Expect high energy , wild storytelling and whimsical uplifting nonsense left right and centre. A wild, offbeat and exciting exploration of Stand-up, Musical , Character and Clown comedy, this one woman show celebrates the human experience growing up as an immigrant child of South-East Asian descent , born and bred in the treacherous depths of East London.
Crystal Jewellery Making Workshop
GET STONED JEWELLERY She/They
9th March 2.00PM Downstairs @ The Actors
WORKSHOP
Come along for a bewitching afternoon of crafting healing crystal jewellery Let your creativity flow at an enchanting afternoon of crafting healing crystal earrings with Get Stoned Jewellery.
Bisexuelle (work in progress)
SELENA MERSEY She/Her
9th March 3.00PM Upstairs @ The Actors
COMEDY
Bisexuelle is a fraudster and a phony and a top-class liar... but hot damn, if she wasn't the best night of my life. Bisexuelle is a smokin' hot broad with a gun. But most of all, Bisexuelle is a creative exploration of two intersecting identities: being bisexual, and being a woman.
Unforgettable Girl
ELISABETH GUNAWAN & SAKSI BISOU
9th March 4.30PM Upstairs @ The Actors
THEATRE
Money can’t buy love, but £19.99/month gets you a mail-order bride, direct from the wasteland of Asian stereotypes. Follow her journey to become an Unforgettable Girl against a world that systematically dehumanises bodies of color. An irreverent, no-holds-barred dark comedy with signature bouffonesque wit. catch this award-winning tr@sh the@tr3 fresh off its acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe run.
zine making & life drawing for disabled dykes & queers
THE ARTIST EDIE She/They
9th March 4.30PM Downstairs @ The Actors
WORKSHOP
come join us for an empowering, mindful and relaxed zine making and life drawing workshop this event is a workshop that takes the time to celebrate and empower disabled and chronically ill dykes and queers! though the art of zine making and mindful life drawing, led by Edie a queer and chronically ill illustrator based in Brighton.
Bellydancing Workshop
LUCY ANDRINA She/Her
9th March 5.00PM Upstairs @ The Actors
WORKSHOP
Let's shimmy and shake! Come and learn the foundation movements of Egyptian style bellydance including shimmies, hipdrops and figures of eight, in a fun & safe environment. We will learn some combos and put these together in a short choreography you can practise at home. Get ready to shimmy and laugh a lot along the way!
Lovely Day
LUCY GAYDECKI She/Her
EARLY CAREER ARTIST
9th March 6.00PM Upstairs @ The Actors
THEATRE
Hello I’m a mum of 2 and new to Mumsnet. I was wondering whether anyone could show me the ropes and help me grasp some phrases such as AIBU? Lovely Day explores motherhood through a specific popular-culture lens; Mumsnet. New to Mumsnet? Don’t worry! Lovely Day walks you through day-in-the-life of a Mumsnet ‘Yummy Mummy’. Prepare to delve deep into hard-hitting domestic debates and dig in to the delicious Mumsnet diet.
MANIC
RAINA GRIEFER They/She
9th March 7.30PM Upstairs @ The Actors
THEATRE
A funny and brutal look at consent filled with poetry, puppets, and PowerPoint presentations! Sometimes hilarious, sometimes heart-breaking, MANIC is a solo show that combines spoken word, puppetry, and theatre to ask whether it is possible to say you were violated without implicating a partner
GENDER BLENDER
BERTIE HODD Any/All DAD He/Him
9th March 9.00PM Upstairs @ The Actors
CABARET
Gender Blender is a new cabaret night landing at FemFest to platform the best, weirdest and most wonderful trans+ artists from Brighton and beyond. Expect gender extenders, gender inventors and of course gender offenders. You are welcome here: gender attempter, ancestor, dissenter, union member. Come and play.
Sunday 10TH MARCH
I Am Going To Build A Chapel In The Woods For Every Dead Queer That History Has Forgotten And I Need Your Help
AMIOT They/He
10th March 12.30PM Upstairs @ The Actors
THEATRE
A bold new play-poem from Amiot about dead gay grandads, memorials made of twigs, and how we as the queer community mourn and remember. It is a call to action to engage in queer remembrance as a radical act - live and onstage, together.
The Special Interest Archive
UNATTAINABLEBLONDE She/They
10th March 1.30PM Downstairs @ The Actors
WORKSHOP
A relaxed, crafty workshop to make imaginative displays for our chosen special interest objects. Join local neurodivergent creative Gem aka Unattainableblonde, for a fun workshop where we will be decorating boxes to display our special objects! This session will be relaxed with plenty of beautiful materials provided!
Sitting Pretty with Kitty
KITTY CASSIS She/Her
10th March 2.00PM Upstairs @ The Actors
COMEDY
Everyone’s favourite Northern agony aunt ‘Kitty Cassis’ will be travelling down on the Megabus, bringing with her a vanity case full of gossip and gory details. Sitting Pretty is a fun filled, happy hearted hour with northern powerhouse, beautician, astrologist, therapist & cabaret performer Kitty Cassis. There are tales from the salon, hilarious parody songs and the opportunity to experience a full emotional MOT. Straddling cabaret & comedy, Kitty finds nostalgic solutions to modern day problems with a clown inspired twist.
Ramalama Ding Dong
ROSHI NASEHI She/Her
10th March 3.30PM Upstairs @ The Actors
THEATRE
A captivating and frequently hilarious meta-comic-multimedia theatre show exploring stand up, sound art, singing and animation inspired by IRL experiences of being on the receiving end of racist chanting.
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Space, Place and Refusal Poetry Workshop
SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN'S POETRY PROJECT
10th March 4.00PM Downstairs @ The Actors
WORKSHOP
Interactive poetry workshop featuring South Asian women's poetry and discussion, poetry writing techniques and optional open mic. This friendly, interactive workshop will look at select poems that consider how we take up space, our connection to place and how we can refuse gender based marginalisation. Expect to discuss poems, free write, share ideas and write your own poems. We will end with an optional ‘open mic’.
FemFest Scatch Night 3
FEMFEST
10th March 5.00PM Upstairs @ The Actors
NEW WRITING
Join us at the third official FemFest scratch night set up for artists to come and explore new ideas in a supportive space. Previous Scratch nights have sold out, so be sure to snap up your tickets before they’re all gone! The line up will be released very soon so keep your eyes peeled and don’t miss out. You’ll be speaking of this night for years to come, where you’ll be able to say to your friends, “Oh yeah, I saw them when they first started at the legendary FemFest Scratch Night in 2024.
60 Minutes of Mood Swings
ONTHENOSE PRODUCTIONS
10th March 7.30PM Upstairs @ The Actors
THEATRE
No one listens to women who talk too much, so we sing instead - music, comedy and mood swings galore. 5 women find themselves at a BootCamp for flawed women where they question what it takes to conform to the increasingly impossible expectations of toxic and misogynistic men. Through self-deprecating humour and a passionate love ballad to Andrew Tate, they wonder if anything will EVER change…
Praise Kink
BILLIE GOLD She/Her
10th March 9.00PM Upstairs @ The Actors
CABARET
How far would you go to be “good”? Billie Gold’s first comedy show takes it to the limit. Fast paced, wild, gay and heartfelt.
***UNFORTUNATELY, DUE TO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES, PRAISE KINK HAS BEEN CANCELLED. ALL TICKET HOLDERS HAVE BEEN CONTACTED AND WILL BE REFUNDED.**
Up until now, FemFest has survived purely through self-funding and voluntary hours put in by its core staff. We love running the festival but with its growth in the last couple of years, we need help from our community to ensure the festival can survive. In order to keep serving our community and showcasing new and exciting work we need some extra funds to help us along the way. Please click the button to donate and find out more.
PRIVACY POLICY | © FEMFEST 2024