Expect to feel uplifted, supported, funky, wonky, and emotional in all the best ways.
Queer Noise is the love child of dyke-onic duo Kia Matanky-Becker and Grace Quigley. Running for three years strong, Queer Noise began as a fundraiser to take Grace’s Offie nominated show Blue Water to the Edinburgh Fringe. It was through that first event that Kia and Grace met, got enthralled in some dyke drama which bonded them for life in the way all late-night queer escapades do: First become mortal enemies, second exchange a series of passive aggressive emails, third meet up for a 10 hr coffee and fourth became obsessed with each other and decide to form a queer creative collective. Since then, Queer Noise has grown massively. The collective has produced over 50 events and collaborated with more than 200 different artists across iconic London venues, including Dulwich Picture Gallery, VFDalston, Rio Cinema, Oslo Hackney and Shoreditch Town Hall. Queer Noise events range from monthly poetry and music nights to group art exhibitions, youth art programs, film screenings, and immersive performance takeovers.
Queer Noise is a platform for queer artists to perform new work, develop professionally and creatively, and reach new audiences. It is also a space for queer people to come together, enjoy live performances and art, find community, and fall in love with themselves. With Queer Noise, Grace and Kia wanted to create an event that centres dyke, trans and non-binary voices and encourages people who are often pushed to the edges of the queer scene to take up space creatively.
Community and solidarity are at the heart of Queer Noise, whether raising money for gender affirming surgeries for local queer people or Championing LGBTQ+ Homelessness support services like stonewall housing, the aim of queer noise is to use creativity to in some small way improve the world around us.
Every event is wildly different, yet all share a simultaneously sensitive and silly exploration of queer community, identity, and relationships. Audiences are in for a real treat with the line up at Shoreditch Town Hall on Thursday 13th March, including:
Paulina Lenoir, award-winning designer turned clown and theatre-maker. She is the founder of cult cabaret Fool’s Moon and is currently touring her critically acclaimed solo show Puella Eterna. With multiple five-star reviews, FringeReview describes Paulina Lenoir as ‘wonderful, bizarre and hilarious… a masterful clown’ and Theatre weekly said ‘Paulina Lenoir creates a marvel out of the ordinary.’
Tall Child (The alias for Zha Gandhi) is a Southeast London based musician of Nigerian/Indian heritage paving the way for black artists in the indie music scene. Tall Child takes inspiration from the likes of Mitski, Julia Jacklin, Solange and Alicia Keys, to create a beautifully intimate and authentic basis for their soundscape. Through brutally honest lyrics, they explore their experiences as a queer disabled POC in hopes of creating a space for those who empathise with having their differences being used against them.
Ray is a poet, performer, facilitator, organiser and eavesdropper based in Birmingham. BLACK, trans, queer and fortunate he is interested in provoking discomfort in audiences and himself with his work. Themes include: Identity, the body, food and links between consumption and perception. He has performed in bars, cafes, restaurants, theatres, streets, a bathroom, a barn, a kitchen and once outside a Tesco (express) because a man asked very nicely.
Each event is hosted by Queer Noise co-parents Kia and Grace, who both bring their love of poetry and spoken word to the stage for theatrical, emotional and comedic tit bits of performance between acts. A current roundhouse poetry collective member, Grace`s performances and poetry explore Dyke culture, queerness, community, London living, mental health, love, heartbreak and laughter.
Kia’s award-winning lyrical poetry is an unapologetic exploration of queer relationships, friendship and community. Kia is particularly interested in queer coming of age narratives and their beautifully messy complexities. An over-sharer and attention seeker, get ready for tales of lesbian drama, late nights and the people they fell in love with on the bus this morning.
Ahead of the show, Queer Noise will be hosting a yummy social, where you will get an opportunity to meet others from the LGBTQ+ community before the performances start – come with a friend, or with your sweet self and get involved with the queer noise community!
So reschedule that date with your exes exes ex and come on down to Queer Noise instead for an unforgettable night of creative excellence. Whether you’re looking to discover fresh queer talent, connect with a vibrant community, or simply lose yourself in a whirlwind of music, poetry and art,
Queer Noise is the place to be. Come for the hot dykes, stay for the exceptional performances, and leave with a sense of community. We can’t wait to create more magical, messy memories together.
See you at Shoreditch Town Hall on Thursday 13th March 7.30 pm -10 pm!
by Kia Matanky-Becker and Grace Quigley
