Non-binary drag artist, writer, director and ‘femme vers top’ ShayShay joins Leo as special cabaret guest with expert input from academic Jacob Bloomfield, honorary research fellow at the University of Kent.
The artefact of the episode is a page of personal ads from the Gay Times in 1984, sparking fascinating chats about trends in self-labelling, the challenges of online dating and a show-stopping performance by ShayShay inspired by poems on grindr.
Leo Skilbeck is a writer/director/creator for stage and screen and the artistic director of Milk Presents. Their work spans a decade of queer performance making, and they are co-creator of TRANS FILTH AND JOY, a large scale cabaret made with Trans Creative. For theatre their work includes cabaret Chekhov THE BEAR/ THE PROPOSAL (Young Vic), drag king play JOAN (winner of Off West End Award, Fringe First Award), and Associate Director on FUN HOME (Young Vic).
ShayShay (they/them) is a Japanese/Irish non-binary writer, director, performer and co-founder of ‘The Bitten Peach,’ a gender-diverse Pan-Asian artist collective. ShayShay’s work spans across theatre, queer cabaret and shows for children and families with a mission to represent and empower queer audiences, specifically trans folk & queer Asians.
Jacob Bloomfield is a Zukunftskolleg Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Konstanz and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Kent. Jacob is currently in the process of completing his first book, Drag. A British History , and is also working on a separate book project about the career and legacy of musician Little Richard.
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