Created by Beth Watson, Queer Diary comes to Rich Mix on May 31st for a special edition including a post reading School Disco themed after party. The only live teenage diary reading evening for the Queer community, LGBTQIA+ adults are invited to read extracts from their teenage diaries to a live audience, in the spirit of celebration, solidarity and silliness. Following the diary readings, audiences are encouraged to stay for a School Disco themed afterparty, inviting LGBTQIA+ people to wear what they want and dance with whoever they want with a DJ taking song requests and dedications, in a chance to do-over their school disco as adults.
In June Beth will also be performing Hasbian at Omnibus 96 Festival, a comedy about coming out as a lesbian, only to discover that boys are also appealing. Using Beth’s real teenage diaries, music, and animated projections of teen-movie actors from the noughties the show tells the story of growing up queer in Brighton under Section 28. We chatted to Beth about the shows.
Explain how the concept for the Queer Diary events began.
Queer Diary events were inspired by the fun I had a few years ago taking part in another diary-reading night called Dear Diary. A friend dared me to read from my diary, so I did! It was a huge adrenaline rush, and got a great response. My teenage-self would be horrified at how many secrets I revealed – but secretly thrilled at how much the audience enjoyed it! The host of Dear Diary encouraged me to turn my diary into a show, so the audience could hear more of my teen adventures, and I started working on turning it into a show (that has become Hasbian).
When the lockdowns happened, I was in the midst of writing a first draft of Hasbian, recalling the fun I’d had at Dear Diary, and craving the company of queer spaces, so I organised some online diary-reading evenings specifically for LGBTQIA+ people, and called them Queer Diary.
I wanted to create a space for connection and bonding, where Queer people would feel safe to share stuff that might confuse (or shock) straight audiences – but our members of our community may find relatable, affirming, or simply hilarious!
We hosted our first Queer Diary in-person events in 2021, and since 2022, I’ve hosted a Queer Diary evening at least once a month (sometimes more, when we’re touring). When I had the idea for a Queer version of Dear Diary, I never imagined that a few years later I’d be playing host to half a dozen excited queers sharing their authentic adolescent scribblings at venues as big as Rich Mix. Queer Diary has grown a huge community, and I can’t wait to celebrate it at our School Disco on May 31!
Are there any particularly memorable moments or quotes from previous events?
My favourite moments are when people bring a diary that shows how much time they spent obsessing over their niche interests. There was someone who’s diary charted their intense fandom of 90s pop star Whigfield (culminating in a very thrilling trip to see her live), and another person who named their diary after their favourite character in Friends, so every entry started like a letter to ‘Dear Phoebe…’
I’m also a huge fan of teenage creative writing – poetry, fan-fiction, fantasy stories. I live for the days when someone fills out the Queer Diary sign-up form, saying “I wrote some very angsty sixth form poetry” or “I have this wild film script I wrote when I was 12….”. Often the readers find their old creative work almost (if not more) toe-curling to share than confessional-style diaries, but I adore how they often reveal the glimmers of the wonderful creative queer grown-ups those teens would grow into – as well as often getting some big (supportive) laughs!
Which of your teenage pop culture crushes would you bring to the School Disco?
Definitely Lindsay Lohan!
In my show, Hasbian, I’ve re-named all the people in my diary after 00s film and tv stars (to protect the identities of real people – and help me re-imagine my awkward adolescence as the glossy American teen movie it was definitely NOT). So my high school friends (and crushes) are all depicted as animated magazine cut-outs of the stars who play them.
I’ve cast La Lohan in Hasbian – to ‘play’ my first teenage love, so I’d 100% be bringing her as my date to the School Disco.
What impact have these events had on the local queer community?
When I organised the first Queer Diary nights, it was definitely one of my motivations to bring people together, but I hadn’t predicted how effective it would be in bridging some of the specific social gaps between different generations, and all the various identities in the LGBTQIA+ rainbow alphabet.
Even if we come from a wide range of eras, or have different experiences and perspectives, we all went through the turmoil that is puberty, and can all share the bonding experience of laughing it off now we’re on the other side of it!
What is the difference in style between this event and your project Hasbian?
Queer Diary is an open mic style event that invites other people to share their own teenage diaries on stage. I bring people together, introduce each of the readers to the stage, and cheer them on as they share whatever they wrote in their youth.
Queer Diary is completely different every time, and thanks to the brilliantly supportive vibe our audiences bring, it allows people to surprise themselves, and read something they may have never thought they’d reveal in public. I love the unpredictability of Queer Diary: you never know what someone will get up and share next, and I think that’s why some folks keep returning for more each month!
Hasbian is more of a standard comedy show – so it’s me on stage for an hour, sharing the WHOLE story behind my diary – a story that you only get tiny glimpses of, when I’m hosting Queer Diary. There’s also a whole wonderful creative team of theatre-makers behind Hasbian, who’ve come together to create animated projections, gorgeous lighting, a throwback soundtrack – to bring the whole world to life. We’ve also got integrated audio description and creative captioning for this run of the show, to make it more accessible for more people, which I’m thrilled about, as it’s been an ambition of mine since the beginning to try and break down some of the barriers that exclude disabled audiences from many queer shows (especially small-scale live performances).
Pick three words to describe the experience of watching Queer Diary as well as Hasbian.
I think both events share a spirit of solidarity, celebration & silliness.
Queer Diary + School Disco is at Rich Mix on 31st May. More information and tickets here.
Hasbian, along with more Queer Diary events, will be part of Omnibus 96 Festival running throughout June and July. More information and tickets here.
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