annabel@sanctuaryqueerarts.com

drew@sanctuaryqueerarts.com

fraser@sanctuaryqueerarts.com

dean@sanctuaryqueerarts.com

1. Who are you?

I’m Annabel, aka Agent Cooper and one half of drag king rock-n-roll tribute bampots Oasissy. I’m a good daughter and a naughty boi; a freelance producer by day and a drag-clown by night (when I’m not tucked up in bed with a hot cocoa).

2. How did you get here? 

As a queer sibling once said to me…I got here falling backwards through a glitter slash circuit! 

I moved to Edinburgh (via the queer paradise of rural Aberdeenshire and then London) to study journalism and joined a community radio station to help run the late night arts show, giving me a behind-the-scenes peak at Edinburgh Fringeland. 

I fell hopelessly in love with showbiz - especially the queer bits - and quickly turned coat, helping out behind the scenes on comedy podcast shows before falling into an opportunity to create a new queer cabaret party - Dive Queer Party. It was a life changing moment and a really special time, as a new queer family in Edinburgh and Glasgow blossomed together. It took me places I never expected, including creating a production company with Jo Clifford and Susan Worsfold - Queen Jesus Productions - and collaborations with all sorts of talented and gorgeous folx.

I’ve had the privilege of being wig-deep in queer cabarets, parties, theatre and performance ever since…so when Drew and Fraser approached me about joining Sanctuary Queer Arts I was over the rainbow!

3. What does the concept of Sanctuary mean to you? 

When I think of a Sanctuary it conjures many things but the feelings those different places and spaces invoke is the same. It’s the feeling of being ‘just right’, enough, complete, at peace… sometimes alone but often surrounded by people who affirm, respect and demand the best of me.

4. What does your Sanctuary look like? 

So many things! Watching Drag Race with loved ones on a Saturday with crisps and ice-cream…a 2am high-heeled trudge through Berlin with a troop of merry queers…a long walk by the sea…picking up a new book in Lighthouse or Category Is…can I have them all, please?

1. Who are you? 

I am Ink (they/them)…  a white, queer, trans, disabled creator, story teller, activist, theatre (trouble) maker. A mentally fucked precariat.

I work with words, and sound, and movement, and images… sometimes on my own, under the name Activising for Change, and sometimes with other people. I am passionate about creatively embedded access and the radical potential of relaxed performance spaces. I stay in Edinburgh next door to three pigeons and a baby.

2. How did you get here? 

I am here cos I was too scared to flyer… I’ve been involved in climate justice campaigning since I was wee and part of that included flyering for awareness raising… not my idea of fun… so I wrote a piece of flash mob theatre that communicated the issues instead…that’s how it began and from there it continued…  making work, writing, learning lighting… touring to poly tunnels at occupations, bookshops, The Traverse, community centres, Dundee Rep, and EdFringe etc… with pieces that have been described as "strikingly direct... beautiful, sometimes funny and always necessary." (Stanza Poetry).

Somewhere in the middle of that I met Fraser and when he asked me if I would be interested in being involved with Sanctuary the answer was obviously “Aye!”. For me the arts and activism, in this case queer existence, will always be inherently linked… we are building tomorrow through the stories we tell ourselves today.

3. What does the concept of Sanctuary mean to you?

It’s comfy. It’s neutral. It’s body temperature – not too much either way.

4. What does your Sanctuary look like? 

4am with clear skies, a very specific grey hoodie, blue blanket, and brown rice. Clear calendar. Empty inbox. Enough space To Be.

1. Who are you?

I am Fraser. I’m a gay working class theatre artist originally from the East End of Glasgow. 

I am theatre director, facilitator and project manager. I create participatory arts experiences for children, young people, families and communities. I work solo…I collaborate. 

I am a dreamer. www.frasermacleod.com

2. How did you get here?

Through youth theatre. From a participant to working my way to being the Associate Artist Director of Scottish Youth Theatre. When there I got visit the Pride Youth Theatre Alliance in Boston. That got me to thinking…what would a queer specific youth theatre experience look like in Scotland? I continued to mull this over after leaving SYT and, luckily, Drew had been having similar thoughts. For years now we have let these thoughts develop and grow. Now we have Annabel with us it is time to realise these bold ambitions as Sanctuary Queer Arts.

I am proud to be one of the facilitators for the LGBTI+ ELDERS SOCIAL DANCE CLUB as part of THE COMING BACK OUT BALL in Scotland. A National Theatre of Scotland and All the Queens Men co-production, in partnership with Eden Court and Luminate, and in association with Glasgow City Council. ‘…a welcoming space for the whole rainbow community to come together to share stories and meet new people.’

3. What does the concept of Sanctuary mean to you?

Peace. A place to truly feel your authentic self. Acceptance.

4. What does your Sanctuary look like? 

A cabin or a cottage in the woods. All comfy cushions and roaring fire inside and nature and water outside…
with WIFI.

1. Who are you? 

I am Drew. Drew Taylor-Wilson. I am a theatre maker, producer and writer living with my husband in Glasgow, originally from Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk. I make athletic performance, beating with a poetic heart, created by communities, young artists and professional performers. 

I am loud prints, bright colours, clashing patterns and remembering to water the plants. 
I am a black cat called Samson who doesn’t let me Zoom successfully. 
I am a tall proud queer human, never afraid to wear shoes that make you taller.

2. How did you get here? 

I got to be here by… 
accosting Mr MacLeod in a bar, working with him lots to make sure he wasn’t odd, writing lots of funding applications together, getting some funding and travelling across the UK [and to Canada] in researching Sanctuary, realised we needed a third person – recruiting Agent Cooper, writing a new application as a triumvirate, got the money 
…in that order 
I have made A LOT of queer theatre – highlights include my solo production INTERNATIONAL ORDER, where the Metro [5 stars] described me as “A Glittering Colossus”, my latest production THICK SKIN, ELASTIC HEART and my commission for 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games 44 STORIES – honouring the lives of queer people throughout the commonwealth, living in countries that outlaw homosexuality.  Full details: DREWMAKESTHEATRE
I am a passionate LGBTQIA+ activist and advocate, always working to further THE QUEER AGENDA and I feel like I can offer a lot to the Sanctuary Queer Arts Project.

3. What does the concept of Sanctuary mean to you? 

Warm embrace – with no questions asked, whatever your identity. 
Built with a notion of… 
“take me as I am, how you find me… not who I could be or who you want me to be”.

4. What does your Sanctuary look like? 

Vivid. Colourful. Textured. Full of food, dancing, provocations and laughter. 
Loud where you need it to be and quite where you want it to be

1. Who are you?

I’m Matt, a white, straight, cisgender artist and venue programmer. I call Glasgow home and live with my partner. I love working at Platform, making performances and supporting other people to make their projects happen. I also love music, dancing and stories.

2. How did you get here?

I started on the journey here at youth theatre - it was a place I found friends and a community that supported me to grow and develop. From there I moved to Edinburgh to study drama at college and, after a few years cleaning pubs, working in off-licenses and cinemas, found a way to start making a living from theatre and performance.

I made some shows for babies, toddlers and their adults with companies like Starcatchers and Imaginate, before arriving in Easterhouse where I’ve been working for the last decade. A proud ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, I and everyone at Platform are delighted and excited to be working with Annabel, Drew, Fraser and the rest of the team.

3. What does the concept of Sanctuary mean to you?

I think of it as somewhere to relax and take a breath. A place to be present and not worry about yesterday or tomorrow.

4. What does your Sanctuary look like?

Comfy chair, outside, feet up, looking at the sea, listening to music with a book just in reach, surrounded by nature and lovely humans.

thank you

Films made by Ania Urbanowska https://aniaurbanowska.com/BIO and the Sanctuary Directors.

Design by Valerie Reid valeriereid.com

Lego House, Unicorn Lamp, Festival Head and Patch Jacket images by James Taylor-Wilson / Drew Taylor-Wilson

Deaf interpreter - Leah Francisco.

Sanctuary Queer Arts would like to thank everyone who has taken part in the research and development phases to date.

Special thanks go to Thaïs Ramdani and Stephanie Katie Hunter for support with Phase 1 and 2 of the project.

1.Who are you?

Presently in addition to Sanctuary Queer Arts I'm at the intersection of 3 roles; 1) Opera Making (Librettist) one year MA student on scholarship 2021-22 to Guildhall School of Music and Drama with the Royal Opera House. 2) Coach and Advisor to a cross section of Creative Scotland funded and Arts Council England funded organisations focussed on intersectional Race Equity and Change Management 3) I am a fellow of the New York based International Society for the Performing Arts and serve on their Governance Committee.

2.How did you get there?

In autumn 2018 I undertook one year MLitt through a scholarship from the Scottish Funding Council to study Theatre and Performance Practices at the University of Glasgow. Beside that I continued to develop my practice as a coach, mentor, trainer and facilitator working across disciplines and scales with individuals and national organisations. My love of opera was nurtured through the National Theatre of Scotland and the Edinburgh International Festivals summer artist leadership programmes Navigating International Waters and Cross Currents.

3. What does the concept of sanctuary mean to you?

When I think of the word sanctuary I breathe in and out with ease. It means to me artistic freedom from censorship. A place to reflect, restore and to experience renewal. To connect with the present and the cosmos. To depart from it able to give you my full attention.

4. What does your sanctuary look like?

For me in recent times it is not a fixed place of bricks and mortar under a particular sky. It is my heart, imagination and body combined. This is elevated when I engage with an arts and culture experience be it one I have created or attending. It's about connection, I'm passionate about radical diplomatic empathy.

1. Who are you?

I’m Nima and my pronouns are they/she, I grew up in Berlin and am mainly based in Glasgow. I am an artist in collaboration and I also advise on access for equality and diversity, though I am no expert myself other than continuing the conversations most people don’t want to have – while I’m still and always learning more about this myself as I go - yikes! I try to find humorous ways of addressing white supremacy within my own work, but transparent direct ways of doing so in the room as a consultant in order to listen and continue to decolonise my own practice and the environments I engage with.

I have a secret / not secret daydream of how incredible it would be if more (white) people engaged with refusing to identify as white and uncovering white supremacy and how it affects them. So that race is not just a subject for those who it oppresses. Maybe then also…more Black and Brown folk could choose if they wanted to make work about race… maybe then also race could become a subject that is not always the fundamentally avoided one…for me what I’ve learned is that black identity is in itself queer so for me these things are not separated and actually for a lot of people they are not. Please follow and look up these incredible artists and activists for example

Travis Alabanza, ALOK and Munroe Bergdorf …if you’re not already! I hope more young people find it exciting to talk about the complexity of identity to explore privilege and oppression as most of us are on a spectrum of both.

2. How did you get here?

I got here through Drew and Fraser, I think they thought I have something to offer :) . Usually gender is more exciting for people to talk about or think about than race, even though both are oppressive and constructed. I am interested in the really complex stuff (mainly because I didn’t have a choice) as you can tell, in order to communicate, create and be in touch with nuances, intricacies and details within identity… This informs expression impacting on resisting binary / resisting one way resolutions or identifiers of oneself and others. I try to create opportunities for other artists with most of any gigs I get, this makes sure I am creating a kind of web of abundance and sustainability as much as I can… also because my ideas usually involve creating with other creatives.

My two main big babies I’ve birthed so far are Beige B*tch which was my first solo – not solo - show and an experimental documentary performative video screening called moving through shadows for National Theatre of Scotland’s Dear Europe event. I’ve previously worked with BUZZCUT, The Work Room, Tramway, Take Me Somewhere, Project X, GSA Design Domain, RCS Fair Access, Frascati Theatre in Amsterdam, Live Art Developments Agency, Live Art UK, Diverse Actions and Arts Admin in London. In Berlin and Germany with Sophiensaele, Berliner Festspiele for the National Youth Theatre festival. I assisted Stewart Laing and Pamela Carter for The End of Eddy through an FST Bursary for assistant directors.

3. What does the concept of sanctuary mean to you?

It invokes a sense of peace and serenity as well as freedom for creative expression, a fluidity and at the same time something grounding

4. What does your sanctuary look like?

It looks like a walking up a mountain, swimming in a river and or the sea, being outside. And most of all eating and dancing together with loved ones

Photo Credit: Daniel Hughes

1. Who are you?

I’m an event producer and musician. I organise Queer Theory - a Glasgow cabaret show with a focus on the subversive and experimental. I’m one half of the electropop/comedy duo Alternative Cracks. I also play for the soul band Melisa Kelly & the Smokin’ Crows and a community choir in Ayrshire called the Infinity Choir. 

I’m a gay man who is very passionate about queer history and culture. Queer Theory gives me an opportunity to pay tribute and celebrate icons from our shared queer history, relating them to our current moment. I’ve organised events themed around John Waters, Leigh Bowery, Marsha Johnson, Judith Butler as well as more local legends like Jo Clifford. If I could have been around at any time, I would have loved to be a musician in the early 80s at the birth of groups like Bronski Beat, Eurythmics, Associates & Soft Cell.

2. How did you get here?

I grew up in Arbroath near Dundee, a scenic but culturally dreary seaside town. From a young age I wrote music in a duo called Black Doves - a theatrical and glam pop group who were later the resident band of Queer Theory for our first couple years.

I studied Commercial Music at UWS in Ayr and spent a lot of time at uni learning about event promotion. I was the booker of the Basement Coffee House which, in its first year, won Best Small Music Venue in Scotland from NME magazine. I also organised club nights at Furys: Double Dunt (EDM) and Pilgrimage (funk and soul).

After moving to Glasgow, I co-organised a Northern Soul night called Night Owl before launching Queer Theory in 2016. Through Queer Theory, I met the wonderful Annabel Cooper who graciously asked me to get involved in Sanctuary. 

3. What does Sanctuary mean to you?

Sanctuary to me is about people - my family of choice. It’s about having a network of like-minded people who understand and support each other, lift each other up and have a good time together!

4. What does your Sanctuary look like?

t could be anything from producing music alone in my flat, a hedonistic party with friends, a walk in the countryside or playing video games in bed with my boyfriend.