They Said My Masculinity Was Toxic, But What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger by Esther Warren
Evening, May, 1994.
The year’s Criminal Justice and Public Order Act has yet to be passed; this encounter is illegal. Let’s watch anyway.
Taking cues from the works of Arthur J Bressan Jr., Armistead Maupin, Dennis Cooper, Torrey Peters and Christine Love, this new play is a tender look at intimacy, the fear of being seen for who you are and the lengths that we might go to feel close to anyone.
This work-in-progress performance shows the first of two stand-alone scenes that will make up the finished text, which will examine two romantic liaisons in the life of Michael. It is performed by East Midlands based actors Laurie Owen and Ken Ogborn.
Esther Warren is a Nottingham based, early-career, theatre creative. She has acted, directed and worked as lighting designer for Nottingham’s Lace Market Theatre, with extensive credits prior among Bristol’s Fringe theatre scene. Her credits and details of her work can be found at her website A Grand Quiet. Once completed, this will be her first play.
Unfinished Business by Jeanette Bird-Bradley
Jeanette has always been preoccupied by Ghosts, it’s the way she was raised, from childhood ghost hunts, to spooky imaginative games played with her brother, the paranormal has always been a backdrop to her life. Little did she know that in her adulthood she would be haunted by something a lot more real- multiple sclerosis, a life altering condition. Unfinished Business is a comedic Ghost story about what it’s like living with a chronic illness. Join Jeanette as she hunts the ghosts that haunt her, in this honest but playful performance.
Unfinished Business is currently in development. With this being its second live sharing, you’ll see a selection of autobiographical scenes that explore the relationship between invisible disability, paranormal experience and the perceptions around both. It is supported with funding from Arts Council England.
Jeanette Bird-Bradley is a Nominee of new Act of the year award by Nottingham Comedy Festival. She is a regular performer with Improv groups Rhymes against Humanity & Miss Imp, and has written several short plays that have been performed at Cultural Exchanges & Curve Theatre.