Stoke based performance group Queerstuff took up residence in The Green Room, Manchester, on Mardi Gras Sunday afternoon and presented a selection of readings based on gay and lesbian literature spanning from the ancient world to the present day.

A characteristically eclectic programme of poetry, narration and news was divided loosely into tour categories: Picking Up, Coming Out, Shopping and Doing It. Whilst each category contained a collection of material from sources as diverse as the Serbian press, Vita Sackville-West and Kenneth Williams, each began with a reading from the diaries of Anne Lister based, appropriately enough, in Staffordshire and Manchester.

Queerstuff presented a unique perspective on topics of relevance to everyone (regardless of sexuality) including AIDS, prejudice and plain old falling in love and if any unsuspecting straights did wander in, they certainly would’ve found plenty to enjoy too. Despite the fact that this marked Queerstuff’s first appearance at Mardi Gras, the performances were without exception confident and accomplished and the hour long programme was greeted with well deserved enthusiasm by the audience. This was particularly true In the case of a very spirited ecclesiastical reading of Gay Epiphany which brought proceedings to a thundering cIimax. Although props and costumes were kept to a minimum, it really is astonishing that the sight of Keith Groom in a clergy collar can cause titters (not just from the audience) before a word is uttered.

Unlikely clergymen aside, the ten-strong company all played an equally important role in the finished production and a carefully planned programme saw Shakespearean Bonnets and readings from Oscar Wild. And Lord Alfred Douglas balanced with the likes of Personal Advertisements, a comical poem for seven performers and Bedtime, a lesbian poem with an unexpected twist. A largely successful attempt was made to include material of interest to both gays and lesbians in order to appeal to the wide range of visitors to Mardi Gras and also to make full use of the members of Queerstuff, who research their own performances tirelessly.The afternoon was a major triumph for the organisers and performers, who had put in long hours of research and (sometimes fraught) rehearsals and battled through some serious traffic jams just to entertain the Mardi Gras audience.

Based on this performance It can only be hoped that Queerstuff will venture out of Stoke a little more often and there can be little doubt that Mardi Gras will welcome them again in years to come.

Catherine Ferriday

“Shropshire Lad”

Earlier this summer I went off to St Peters in the centre of Stoke to listen to a lunchtime concert. I’m not an avid classical music fan, preferring to listen to Classic FM as opposed to Radio 3. So I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Arthur Somervell had composed a cycle of music set to the poems by A.E. Housman. Now I had heard of Housman, but had not heard of Somervell.Anyway, off I went to St Peters, Maurice Greenham was accompanying on the piano Mark Fudge who was singing. There was a respectable sized crowd off people waiting expectantly. The recital was in aid of the fund to support those injured or bereaved in the Soho bombing. And so the concert started off with Maurice succinctly and eloquently explaining the background to the concert, and telling us a little bit about Somervell and Housman.

The music itself surprised me. It was quite lyrical and at times very moving. Maurice and Mark worked well together — it was obvious that they had rehearsed the piece well. I was particularly taken with the articulation of the lyrics - as I’m a bit hard of hearing I often can’t understand a word being sung. But this recital was crystal clear.

In particular, I was taken by a song called “The Lads in their hundreds from Ludlow come into the fair.” I think the poems were written after the Boer War and reflect the senseless carnage that decimated so many young men. But for me there was a contemporary resonance, echoing the loss that HIV has wrought on so many lads in their hundreds. The song seemed all the more poignant in the aftermath of the Soho bombing, with one phrase in particular embedding itself in my mind; “return to the coiner, the mintage of men.”

The recital was warmly and enthusiastically received by the audience. It seems a shame that it was a one off as I am sure many other people would enjoy the music, its accomplished performance and the sentiments it contained. I understand that the occasion also raised over £100 for the Soho bombing appeal. So on both a musical score and for demonstrating Stokes concern for those maimed, killed or bereaved, thanks are due to Mark and Maurice.

Screened over the Mardi Gras Weekend at Manchester’s Corner House

All About My Mother, is the latest film by the highly talented Spanish director Almodóvar. It was a deserved hit at the 1999 Cannes Festival and Almodóvar’s finest work to date. The film celebrates the enduring strength of women – even if some of them are female by choice rather than birth. It is sad, moving, intense and very funny. The son of the key figure, Manuela is killed in a car accident, before he dies he tells his mother of his desire to know his father whose identity has been shielded from him. Her difficult search for her husband, ‘Lola the Pioneer,’ is aided by other women. They include, a transsexual prostitute, a pregnant HIV+ nun and her middle class mother together with a grand dame of the theatre and her drug addicted lesbian lover. It is a brilliant film, typical of Almodóvar in its design, camera work, witty script (Spanish with English subtitles) and affecting musical score. The performances are wonderfully intense and real. “All About My Mother” (Todo sobre mi madre) brought to an end the season of Almodóvar films being shown at the Cornerhouse and its programming to coincide with Mardi Gras couldn’t have been better timed. It fitted perfectly into the spirit of the weekend. Look out for it locally – maybe the Film Theatre will give it a screening – Don’t miss it; it is a film well worth seeing.