Join us in t'ARTopia for a fourth time - a night of art, words, drag, cabaret and music from some of our most delicious t'ARTs.
We have invited some of the wonderful contributors to t'ART plus some of our favourite performers to entertain you all, at a night that will be nothing short of t'ARTopian.
We will be raising money for gender affirming surgery funds with this evening's raffle, so come with a couple of a quid, win art and raise money for good causes!
Spoiler Rotten - Drag Artist
I'm a queer, working class, disabled performer, drag artist and writer from East London. My pronouns are she/they. In drag I am Spoiler Rotten (he/they). Spoiler is Ford's twisted Dagenham Dream. A drag king who's fed up of the factory floor, he thinks cars are sexy and he's done hiding it. He's getting rid of his shame through grotesque queerlesque. He's a lads lad, a charmer and he's ready to Spoil 'er Rotten.
Thembe Mvula - Poet
Thembe Mvula is a South African writer and poet, an alum of the Roundhouse Poetry Collective, Barbican Young Poets and the inaugural Obsidian Foundation retreat. Her poetry often celebrates, unpacks or laments all that is tied to home, relationships and self. Thembe has headlined nationally and internationally, including at the Tate Modern, Oslo Afro Arts festival and has featured at Latitude festival. Thembe has a TEDx talk on The Power of Poetry and Vulnerability which has been translated into Mandarin and Cantonese. She self-published her debut prize-shortlisted poetry pamphlet, We that Wither Beneath, in 2019, and is currently undertaking a masters in Creative Writing at the University of Oxford.
Tangent Askew - Performer
Tangent is an enby being from the depths of deep space come to earth to both ridicule and redeem mankind. Or rather humankind (Tangent hates gender labels).
Through a combination of cabaret, comedy, songs and the occasional lip sync, Tangent tells their origin story and what they hope to achieve here on planet Earth.
London is their favourite place on planet Earth which is why they adopt the local dialect.
Iris & Steel - Music
lIris & Steel are a London based, all-female band, whose blend of classical training and love of country and folk music makes for a timeless and original sound. The band formed at University in 2017, and comprises guitarist Lydia Higman, cellist Georgina Lloyd-Owen, violinist Athena Hawksley-Walker, and singer Olivia Poust. Their debut single Two Steps Behind was recorded, produced, and mixed entirely from home. Currently, the band are working towards releasing their first EP.
Lailah - Poet
Lailah has been obsessed with words forever. She started writing when she was 15, and has since been performing her poetry at open mics. A native East Londoner, she writes about the identity, the diversity of the city and sociopolitical issues surrounding it.
Cosette Gobat - Singer Songwriter
A songwriting talent from a very young age, her career took off upon the signing of a record deal with Decapolis Records at age 14. She began touring the East Coast in high school, a move that projected her reach even further. Writing music for documentaries and playing festivals with big artists such as Sheryl Crow, Cosette was signed to another label, KBM Productions, with the release of an electronic EP called ‘Blindside’. After performing on ABC in 2015, she took her career into a different direction studying at Temple University and working as a mastering engineer under Michael Jackson’s ex-producer at Arctic Records in Philadelphia. Working with well-known artists such as The Wombats, Caroline Rose, and The Beths, she mastered her skills as both a musician and an engineer. In 2019, Cosette relocated to London to continue to expand her music on a worldly scale.
Gobat's 2020 debut studio album, ‘Couteau’, a diaristic collection traversing a multitude of genres from folk and rock to everything in between, was an impressive introduction to the theatrical artist's otherworldly talent. Gobat's 2020 debut studio album, ‘Couteau’, a diaristic collection traversing a multitude of genres from folk and rock to everything in between, was an impressive introduction to the theatrical artist's otherworldly talent. And now, she's back with an intensely haunting new track, which poured out of her after struggling to put pen to paper, sing or play an instrument due to her PTSD burying her desire to do the one thing she loves most in life: make music. A filmic escape into a heavenly dream of classical, folk, and dream pop, 'Endings' presents a humanly gift of turning tragedy into a creatively-made beauty.
Ashleigh Loeb - Drag King
Rabbi Schmeckie Platzowitz (He/They) is a Drag King who uses themes of their Jewishness, Queerness, fluid masculitnity and current affairs in their work. Their alter-ego Ashleigh Loeb (She/Her) is a Theatre Maker, Actor, Voice Artist & all-round story teller. Ashleigh was Jewish Drag King Consultant and appeared in 2021 Pear's Prize-winning short film “Make Me A King” and can be seen in the 2016 LGBTQ+ web series “As We Are”. She can also be heard in audio plays and computer games playing everything from a gig-going music fan to dragons, zombies and orcs. Ashleigh graduated with an MA from East 15 Acting School in 2014 and lives in Stroud Green, London.