Join us as we pass the mic to two emerging creatives; Marley Small and Aish Humphreys who are curating an eclectic series of live events and performances for this year's Mayfest.

Taking place in Bristol Old Vic’s Weston Studio, this is your invite to be part of something special and experience work from some of Bristol’s young creatives aspiring to be the curators, producers and arts leaders of tomorrow.

Aish Humphreys presents an eclectic evening of spoken word and multidisciplinary performance art from Arun Sood, Biogal and Raina Griefer, exploring stories of marginalised identities and how they evoke memory through performance.

Curated by Aish Humphreys.

“This Studio Takeover is about how we open up space for eclectic curatorial voices as part of our festival programming. This year we are teasing some of this thinking into practice by sharing a platform for bright talent to curate a series of live events as part of the main festival programme. This is part of a longer-term lean into how we create space for aspirational curators, producers and arts leaders in a meaningful way that has a real legacy.” Kate and Matthew, co-directors, MAYK

Supported by the Nisbet Fund, in partnership with Rising Arts Agency and Saffron.

About Aish Humphreys
Aish is a poet, performer and workshop facilitator from Cornwall, living in Bristol. He has performed all over the UK and last year worked in Romania with Tongue Fu exploring the relationship between music and spoken word. They were the poet in residence for the SS Great Britain in 2022 and their first poetry pamphlet, Saints of Golden Hour was released in February 2023 which treads soberness, girlhood, queer relationships and the gods we create for ourselves. He is currently writing a spoken word theatre show with Eryn McDonald exploring transness and masculinity


About Arun Sood
Arun Sood is a Scottish-Indian writer, musician and academic working across multiple forms. He was born in Aberdeen to a West-Highland mother and a Punjabi father, and has since lived in Glasgow, Amsterdam, Washington DC, and now South Devon where he is Lecturer in Global Literatures at the University of Exeter. His critical and creative practice ranges from fiction, academic publications, sound installations, and poetry to ambient musical tapestries. His books include the 2022 novel New Skin For The Old Ceremony: A Kirtan, which explores notions of home, heritage, and memory among the South Asian diaspora. Musically, Arun’s works have been described by Elizabeth Alker (BBC3/Unclassified) as like “fragments and images conjured through sound and field recordings that ebb and swirl like the tide”; while Jude Rogers of The Guardian describes how “the spirit of sonic collage holds echoes of other Scottish works such as King Creosote and Jon Hopkins.

About Raina
Raina Greifer (she/they) is a Bristol-based theatre maker and producer interested in exploring themes around sex, consent, and grief. Her work uses puppetry, poetry, and comedy to examine the intersection between pop culture and politics. They were shortlisted for the SH24: Sexual Health Awards 2022 as Young Person of the Year and were a BBC Words First Finalist in 2021. Her solo show MANIC won Best Solo Show at Fuse International in 2022 and was shortlisted for the 2023 Sabateour Awards. MANIC has toured across the UK to venues like Theatre Royal Plymouth, Theatre Royal Bath and Tobacco Factory Theatre. Raina loves talking about being horny. She loves being dramatic about it.

Performance- Raina is trying to figure out how to have good sex, whatever that means. Featuring burlesque, diary entries, affirmations, and lots of semi-comfrotable lingerie, Good Orgasm looks to redefine what we imagine sex positivity can be.

About Biogal
T✶S Anarcho Showgirl Writer Curator Organiser
found wet & stumbling at the wake of the world NOW UNCUT!
she: a pre-op hypnopompic autogyne animalist cum disgraced gogo banshee posing prostrate under pressure and/or in light of commercial construction:
a pornographer caught in prayer.

About Biogal's performance
Biogal presents a performative screening of Prayer for The Queen (1968) originally performed for censored pleasures + closeted desires, Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest 2023, The Place. Featuring performance videography and editing by The Place alongside archival footage from Frank Simon's The Queen.


ACCESS INFORMATION
For any access bookings, please get in touch with Bristol Old Vic directly at [email protected]

Age 18+
Content guidance: full frontal nudity, reference to rape, strong language, sexual content, clowns, audience call and repeat affirmations (optional participation), swearing, flashing lights.

Venue Information
This event will take place in the Weston Studio of Bristol Old Vic. Further information about the venue can be found on their website: https://bristololdvic.org.uk/your-visit/access/general-access-information

This performance is part of Mayfest: Bristol's international festival of contemporary theatre and live performance, curated and produced by MAYK. Check out the full programme at mayk.org.uk/mayfest, @mayfestbristol.

#Mayfest
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/mayfestbristol

Entry requirements: no age restrictions — Read more — Read less