Arts Council England has awarded Derby-based 1623 theatre company a grant of £30,000 to make a new show, Queer Lady M, along with an artists development programme.
Queer Lady M is a one-person show that explores the affinity between Shane Gabriel, a gender-fluid working-class artist, and his idol, Lady Macbeth. The show “is all about celebrating LGBTQIA—lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual / transgender, queer, intersex / interested, asexual / ally—identity, particularly gender fluidity”.
Gabriel performs a version of himself in the show while drawing from his own life experiences and his encounters with Shakespeare's fierce queen whom he has idolised since she slipped into his world through his grandma's telly when he was small.
In 2017, he worked with 1623’s artistic director Ben Spiller to explore ideas in workshops with artists and audiences including the Derbyshire LGBT+ youth group before sharing a work in progress at a Derby Theatre scratch night.
Gabriel said, “Queer Lady M will invite audiences to think about their own identities as well as their idols and how helpful it is to have them. I'm hopeful that the show will lead to further acceptance of all our unique identities and contributions to society.”
1623 creative producer Christopher Lydon added, “we're excited to be given the opportunity to bring this show to life, explore the ideas that will come up and share them with audiences as we try out parts of the show at scratch nights across the UK. We’ll livestream some of the performances too.
"We've got a great team for this project and we really hope that the results will connect with people, whether or not they know anything about Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth."
An artists development programme will be instigated by Michael Pinchbeck. The six-week course of workshops will take place in summer 2018 in Derby, Leicester and Lincoln. It will culminate in a public scratch night at Derby Theatre where all artists will share their discoveries through a series of short performances.