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Monologue performance at 2.30 pm on Saturday 30 May and author talk on Sunday 31 May at the 3-Minute Arts Festival, Glaisdale. More details here.
Queer Spaces Scratch Night at 7.45 pm on Wednesday 3 June at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough and 7 pm on Thursday 4 June at York Theatre Royal. More details here. Open Mic at Robin Hood's Bay Folk Weekend at 3 pm on Saturday 6 June. More details here. Author talk at Scarborough Library, where I will be talking about Dancing in Heaven. Thursday 11 June, 6.00-7.00 pm, Scarborough Library. More details here. Thurrock Pride, Saturday 13 June. Details to come. We've Always Been Here - a two-hour creative writing workshop prompted by Scarborough and North Yorkshire’s queer history. Saturday 20 June 2026, 3.00-5.00 pm in Scarborough. More details here.
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 I’m thrilled to be part of the next Queer Spaces scratch night at the Stephen Joseph Theatre Scarborough (Wednesday 3 June) and York Theatre Royal (Thursday 4 June), with the theatre companies Roots and Four Wheel Drive. I will be performing a piece from my new project Breasting Boobily and I would love to get your feedback as a member of the audience.
Queer Spaces is a sparkling night of brand-new LGBTQ+ performances. Created by actors, poets and writers, the line-up includes award-winning artists trying out new material for the first time. All proceeds will go towards Roots' support of new local artists.  The Robin Hood's Bay Folk Weekend is 5, 6 and 7 June, and for the first time there will be a spoken word open mic session called It's Only Words, at The Dolphin, Robin Hood's Bay, between 3 pm and 5 pm on Saturday 6 June.. The two-hour session, hosted by me and Steve Hoey, is open to anyone with a story or poem to tell.
Sign up at The Dolphin from Friday 5 June or turn up - but remember, it will be first come first served. There's lots of other amazing things going on at The Dolphin and around Robin Hood's Bay over the weekend: Friday 5 June 18:00 - 19:00 Happy hour with Rob Parker 19.30 - 22.30 Bayfolk Folk Weekend launch with The Smugglers Friday events around Bay: Singarounds at Bay Hotel, Wainright’s Bar, Smugglers Saturday 6 June 10.30 - 13.00 All singers & musicians welcome 13.00 - 15.00 Free for all: ‘Dylan, Guthrie & Friends’ hosted by Ken McCall, Joe Gibbins & Gary Hammond 15.00 - 17.00 Spoken word: ‘It’s Only Words’ hosted by Suzanne Elvidge & Steve Hoey (sign up at The Dolphin, first come first served) 15.00 - 17.00 Open mic session with Dave’s mate (sign up at The Dolphin, first come first served) 18.00 - 19.30 In concert: Rob Parker supported by George Husband @ St Stephen’s Church, Fylingthorpe 19.00 - 23.00 Festival Concert: Forest Folk, Steam Pigeon & Bayfolk singers & musicians, hosted by Garry Burnett Friday events around Bay: Café Dash, Thieving Magpies Dance Troupe, singarounds at Bay Hotel, Wainright’s Bar, Smugglers Sunday 7 June 10.30 - 11.30 Folk Service, St Stephens Church led by Rob Parker 12.00 - 13.00 Irish music session led by Damian Llewellyn & friends 15.00 - 17.00 Open mic with Rich Kitson (sign up at The Dolphin, first come first served) 20.00 - 23.00 Survivor session hosted by Jim Foster  I will be giving an author talk at Scarborough Library on Thursday 11 June at 6 pm where I will be discussing Dancing in Heaven. Come and find out more about the stories, the people I spoke with and my writing process.
Scarborough Library: Vernon Road, Scarborough YO11 2NN  I will be joining the glorious drag queen Lana Lamont for a guest slot to celebrate her birthday as part of a night of comedy, drag, great music and special guest performances.
Other guests include poet Charlotte Oliver, drag queen Marlaine Desmond DelaRosa and musician and singer Oriana Phil Towart. The Cask and Keg, Cambridge Terrace, Scarborough YO11 2LQ at 8 pm on Saturday 28 March 2026. Tickets £8, including a free drink, available here.  My monologue, The best lovers are good with their hands, will be part of The Scarborough Playwrights’ Room Showcase, an evening of groundbreaking homegrown writing from a range of voices, including monologues, short plays, and scenes from larger plays, all written in and around Scarborough.
This showcase features writing from eight local writers, including wild comedy, mysterious drama, and moving monologues. Through the show, you'll see snapshots of wider works, some published, some entirely new. This show gives you the opportunity to directly support local creatives, and maybe even get involved yourself! All writing in the show has been developed and/or supported by local theatre creatives at the Scarborough Playwrights’ Room, a local writing group hosted by the SJT and run by Alfie Howle. The best lovers are good with their hands, published in Dancing in Heaven, tells the story of a young gay man who only finds out that he is HIV-positive when he meets a BSL interpreter in hospital. The performance is on 6 May at The McCarthy at the Stephen Joseph Theatre. Tickets are free and can be booked at the theatre and online.  Monday 1 December (World AIDS Day) at the Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TN, 7-9 pm (doors open at 6.30).
Free tickets here. In 1981, the medical journal The Lancet reported the first case of AIDS in the UK. By the end of the decade, hundreds were dead: mostly young, mostly gay, mostly men. Across the country, women were there. Mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, lovers, professionals. They cared, cleaned, cooked, coped, cried and campaigned. They lost people they loved. And they went to endless funerals. Dancing in Heaven celebrates the voices of these women – the loud ones and the unheard ones. Together, they represent strength, grief, anger, and an awful lot of love. Join us on World AIDS Day to celebrate the launch of this groundbreaking book.  Saturday 6 December at the Shakespeare Gallery and Studios, St Helen's Square, Scarborough YO11 1EU at 4-6 pm (part of the Scarborough Fringe Winter Edition) Free tickets here or here. Meet the author Suzanne and publishers Reconnecting Rainbows Press to celebrate the launch of Suzanne’s latest book, Dancing in Heaven. Stories celebrating the women of the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis.
There will be an opportunity to browse through a range of publications by the Reconnecting Rainbows Press and hear from Suzanne about the reasons behind the development of the book and her writing process. In 1981, the medical journal The Lancet reported the first case of AIDS in the UK. By the end of the decade, hundreds were dead: mostly young, mostly gay, mostly men. Across the country, women were there. Mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, lovers, professionals. They cared, cleaned, cooked, coped, cried and campaigned. They lost people they loved. And they went to endless funerals. Dancing in Heaven celebrates the voices of these women – the loud ones and the unheard ones. Together, they represent strength, grief, anger, and an awful lot of love. While the monologues are fiction, the stories are real, drawn from conversations, press coverage, articles and the archives of Switchboard, the national LGBTQIA+ support line. A donation will be made to Switchboard for each copy sold. A Big Queer Fringe Scarborough Production Supported by Scarborough Community Box Office Limited Part of The Scarborough Fair Winter Fringe. I'll be hosting a writing workshop, First Person Singular – Writing Monologues That Speak to an Audience, at the first Whitby Literature Festival on 6 Nov 2025 about the craft of writing monologues, from first idea to final draft.
https://whitbylitfest.org #WhitbyLitFest #LiteraryFestival #Whitby The Robin Hood’s Bay Folk weekend has been a highlight of the Robin Hood’s Bay year for decades, and this year is going to be no exception – from The Bay Hotel to Boggle Hole, the area will be full of music and creativity.
The 2025 Bay Folk Weekend will be held between Friday 6 June and Sunday 8 June at venues all around the village. This year’s amazing event will feature old faces and new, including the Café Dash, a concert by the Fylingdales Folk Choir, open mic sessions, singarounds, acoustic sessions and a writing workshop. The Bay Folk Weekend began in the 1970s, attracting folk music, dance and song from across Yorkshire and further afield. In the past, the weekend has included ceilidhs, ‘Survivor’s Sessions’, and dancers on the Dock. The Café Dash started in 2016 and has raised much money for the RNLI. The Bay Folk Club, or Bayfolk, will be hosting open mic and singaround sessions at Wainwright’s Bar, Bay Hotel on the Friday and Saturday night. Bayfolk was born out of the 1960s folk revival, with Brian Krengel, the warden of Boggle Hole Youth Hostel, as one of its founders. Bayfolk has inhabited almost all the pubs in Robin Hood’s Bay at various times in its history, including the Bay Hotel, Ye Dolphin, the Laurel and the Victoria Hotel, with appearances from The Young ‘Uns, Flossie Malavialle, Reg Meuross, Briege Murphy, John Connolly, Liz Law and Terry Conway, Bernie Parry, Duncan McFarlane, and our local legend Martin Carthy. It is now in Wainwright’s Bay every Friday night at 7 pm hosted by guitarist Garry Burnett, a club regular for over 20 years. Friday 6 June – Robin Hood’s Bay Wainright’s Bar, The Bay Hotel – live music 7 pm – The Smuggler’s Inn (upstairs) – singaround, open mic, all welcome Saturday 7 June – Robin Hood’s Bay and Boggle Hole 10.30-1.30 pm – Boggle Hole Youth Hostel - A Way with Words, a fun and creative writing workshop inspired by Robin Hood’s Bay history and environment. Everybody welcome, from beginners to experienced wordsmiths, hosted by Suzanne Elvidge & Steve Hoey at the beautiful Boggle Hole Youth Hostel, walking distance (at low-tide or on the Cleveland Way) from Bay. Free to attend but bring some money for coffee and cake. Any questions email [email protected] 11 am to 4 pm – RNLI Café Dash (various venues around Bay) featuring Colin & Pip Whiddett, Ian Tyzack, Debra Simpson, Chris Denley, Derek Waudby, Anya Wiltschinsky &James Nicholson, Steve & Mary-Anne Hindley, Phil Friend & Lynne, and John Windle. The Smugglers band will be performing and collecting for the RNLI midday onwards in the Laurel PM – Wainright’s Bar – informal singaround and open mic 12ish onwards – The Dock – dance display with Thieving Magpie Morris 2-5 pm – Boggle Hole Youth Hostel – acoustic open mic led by Garry Burnett & Rob Parker 7 pm – Wainright’s Bar, Bay Hotel – informal open mic session – all welcome – hosted by Garry Burnett 7 pm – Tea, Toast and Post – Guthrie & Friends, a themed session hosted by John Tunaley, Steve Foster & Ken McCall 7 pm – Fylingdales Village Hall – Fylingdales Folk Choir, with special guests Glaisdale Clog, who will be performing traditional dances. Everyone welcome to join in a feast of folk music and song. Entry is free, with a voluntary donation in aid of the RNLI Sunday 8 June – Robin Hood’s Bay 10.30 am – Folk Service at St Stephens Church, Robin Hood’s Bay led by Steve Foster & Rob Parker 11 am to 4 pm – RNLI Café Dash (various venues around Bay) featuring Edwina Hayes, Eddie Marrion, Suzy Bradley, Ian Walker, Mathew Stringer, Dave Hume & Lucia White, Wolf Housman, and George and Jane Smith 12ish onwards – The Dock – dance display with Thieving Magpie Morris |
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