"GFest is an excellent forum for encouraging new artists as well as established acts and I wish participants, organisers and visitors a great festival this year"
- Margot James,
Conservative Party Vice Chairman for Women

"I send my very best wishes to GFest, and hope the festival is a huge success. Giving full expression to some of the best in LGBT arts and performance - and being proud about the diversity that has created it - is something to be savoured, enjoyed, and celebrated. Good luck!"
Chris Smith
Rt Hon Lord Smith

"I send my good wishes to all those involved in organising and participating in GFest 2008. Wise Thoughts has a proven track record and has organised an ambitious programme of events across the arts. I hope the Festival will raise the profile of LGBT artists and their work, not only in London but nationally."
- David Lepper MP

"As a TV producer I am always keen to hear about innovative media and arts forums. As Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission I am delighted to see innovation coupled with a celebration of LGBT creators and audiences. I wish all success to the G-Fest gayWise LGBT Arts Festival."
- Sir Trevor Phillips

"As a lesbian and a Londoner, I'm excited about GFest, an LGBT arts festival filled with cutting-edge exhibitions and performances by new and established artists. GFest is a celebration of the wonderful diversity that makes our queer communities so vibrant, and our capital city so rich. It's so inspiring to see LGBT arts showcased in this way. I hope GFest just gets bigger, bolder and more beautiful, year by year!"
- Sarah Waters

"GFest looks set to be better than ever this year and the diversity and creativity behind the festival and are truly inspiring. It is a wonderful opportunity to showcase and celebrate LGBT artists and performers, so I wish all involved every success."
- Caroline Lucas MEP
Leader of the Green Party

"I want to wish all the participants and supporters of the GFest- gayWise LGBT Arts Festival all the very best for this year's Festival. It provides a fantastic platform not just for the LGBT community but also for London and for the arts. This year's programme is packed with interesting and diverse events so I am sure it will be a great success."
- Jeremy Hunt
Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

"Congratulations to Wise Thoughts and GFest organisers for all their efforts in delivering this year's GFest -gayWise LGBT Arts Festival.
I am looking forward to this year's festival. Gfest offers a broad, diverse mix of visual and performance art which is creative, challenging and provocative. The festival is also an exciting platform to showcase the creativity of artists who explore sexual and ethnic identities and it builds upon the extensive, historic contributions that LGBT Londoners have made to the vibrant social, economic and cultural fabric of this city.
I wish Gfest every success as it establishes itself as London's annual LGBT arts festival and encourage Londoners to attend."
- Jennette Arnold AM
Chair of the London Assembly

Donate To GFest from just one Pound
Stonewall list of grant making trusts and foundations

GFest 09 Performances @ Cochrane Theatre

Date Time Event Venue Booking Info
Thurs 19 Nov 7.30 PM Performances Evening Cochrane Theatre £12 / £8 (concs)
Book online here
Box Office 020 7269 1606
Fri 20 Nov 7.30 PM Performances Evening Cochrane Theatre £12 / £8 (concs)
Book online here
Box Office 020 7269 1606
Sat 21 Nov 7.30 PM Performances Evening Cochrane Theatre £12 / £8 (concs)
Book online here
Box Office 020 7269 1606

Performances @ Cochrane Theatre

Thurs 19 Nov 09 / 7.30 pm / £12 / £8 concs. Book online here / Box Office 020 7269 1606

The Short And Girlie Show
Performer: Ali Adolph
Duration: 20 mins

Description:Four women play a series of fast-paced hilarious "Who's Line is it Anyway?" games using audience suggestions. With different games and audiences each night, every show is unique. Compère: Ali Adolph.

About the performer: Short And Girlie Theatre Company was born in London in 1999, after founding member Ali Adolph searched for a gay-girl theatre company to no avail. Subsequently, Ali started to run all-female drama workshops, full-length plays and festivals of short plays by new female writers. In 2004 the company created comedy impro show OFF THE CUFF in collaboration with RCM Productions. - "we love to death!" DIVA MAGAZINE
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Eating Secret
Performer: Caroline Smith
Duration: 15 mins

Description:Mertle, a 1950s housewife invites you to share an eating secret and have a cake and explore our attitudes to food, body and performance.

About the performer: Caroline Smith is a writer and performance artist. She has performed widely including at National Review of Live Art, Whitstable Biennale Satellite, Arts Depot and most recently at the Tate Modern. She currently lectures on Performance Writing at the University of Greenwich - "Deliciously dark" The Guardian.
GFest 08 artist
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The Sailor Princess
Performer: Ingo Andersson
Duration: 15 mins

Description:A story about growing up in a non-traditional family, dreams and queer discoveries.

About the performer: Ingo has been performer who mostly created performance spaces and events via Wotever World in London, UK and Europe. She also writes and is involved in creative filmmaking.
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Katja von Kassel
Performer: Katja von Kassel
Duration: 15 mins

Description:'Electro Weimar Cabaret' is the easiest way to describe the music of Katja von Kassel. She sings in both German and English.

About the performer: Born in the village where the Brothers Grimm first narrated their fairytales, Katja wrote her first song aged 9, for her brother's birthday ... After wining a singing contest on TV she moved to London, where she met co-writer and producer Alex Gray. They discovered a shared love for 'Bladerunner', 'Kraftwerk' and Rainer Werner Fassbinder's work.
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Me My Mi
Performer: Holestar
Duration: 10 mins

Description: performance chronicling the true story of an uneducated and ambitious tomboy who became Holestar, the 'Tranny with a Fanny'.

About the performer: An artist, performer and DJ, Holestar has appeared in art spaces, clubs and events extensively through Europe, New York and the UK. She has performed & exhibited at various events - from Vienna's Life Ball to Kashpoint, the V&A Museum and ICA to Glastonbury and Lovebox Festivals. Having previously worked with sex, gender and modern celebrity, Holestar's current work explores personal biography, experience and opinion through film, installation and performance. - "Endearing cabaret doyenne" i-D Magazine
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Harriet Smith
Performer: Harriet Smith
Duration: 10 mins

Description: Acoustic guitar and female vocals. Lyrically motivated by travel, finding one's self and experiencing life.

About the performer: Harriet Smith played drums and piano for a few years. She has performed in rock, jazz and broadway groups, and is now concentrating on a solo performance singing and playing guitar.
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Parental Guidance
Performer: Jet Moon & Josephine Wilson
Duration: 20 mins

Description: A slap-stick that reworks the trash horror movie genre. Tales of growing up to be the kind of person your parents warned you about. An epic queer horror rampage!

About the performer: Jet Moon is an artist and activist, writing, performing and producing shows throughout Europe. She is a founder member of Queer Beograd collective. Josephine Wilson is a performer, academic and writer. She recently premiered her latest solo-show, 'Sex Education' and is touring in The Genderqueer Playhouse, which she also programmes and directs. She is completing her Ph.D. in Gender Studies and is a published author. - " The show has still left me glowing." Gay Times
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Performances @ Cochrane Theatre

Fri 20 Nov 09 / 7.30 pm / £12 / £8 concs. Book online here / Box Office 020 7269 1606

Weightless Again
Performer: Ashley Smith
Duration: 15 mins

Description: A 17-year-old gay teenager jumped from a car park after being encouraged to do so by a taunting crowd. The piece is based on what it is like to jump in to the oblivion.

About the performer: For the last two years Ashley has worked as a solo performer, with an emphasis on audience participation. He quit working as a lecturer at the University of Derby to go full time with his performance theatre - Comfortism. - "A disturbing mixture of comedy, absurdity, social, political and historical comment." South Wales Evening Post.
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Three zero
Performer: Marcus Reeves
Duration: 25 mins

Description: A solo performance that weaves together songs, poetry and video, in a montage of material from the last ten years of Marcus Reeves' writing and performance career. A further development from his GFest 08 show.

About the performer: Writer and performer Marcus studied at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design before moving into music and theatre. As a singer-songwriter and cabaret artist, he has performed across London venues. In 2007, Marcus won The Peggy Ramsay Foundation award. -'a new Tim Rice' - Elaine Paige -'a man of enormous imagination' - Sister Wendy Beckett
GFest 07, GFest 08 artist
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GRIP [HOLD] and REVELATIONS – BONUS TRACK 2009
Performer: Owen G Parry
Duration: 24 mins

Description: Grip [Hold] is an exploration of queerness that revels in the pleasures of the lavish aesthetic. From a tongue in the wall to a boy whose legs never reach the ground, stories and non-stories explode onto the stage in uncompromising ways.

About the performer: Owen G Parry is an artist and researcher based in London. He has presented and exhibited work at live art and contemporary performance venues and festivals both nationally and internationally. He is currently an AHRC award recipient undertaking PhD research in Visual Cultures at Goldsmith University.
GFest 07 artist
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Sexual Acts of Contrition
Performer: Tonny A.
Duration: 20 mins

Description: A Performance breaking into experimental dance and moving poetry.

About the performer: Tonny A is a French performance maker and writer who is currently living in East London. Over the past 5 years, Tonny's artistic personae has varied from curator to theatre director to performance artist. He curated Experimental Cabarets, Live Poetry nights and Variety shows and conceived many solo Burlesque and Contemporary Poetry performances, which were presented in various Club nights and Festivals.
GFest 08 artist
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00:00 - 00:01
Performer: Mavin Khoo
Duration: 20 mins

Description: Based on notions of ambiguity that stand to be represented through the 'swan'; the movement work is loosely based on the tragic love story of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake (a section based on the 2nd Act).

About the performer: An internationally established dancer and choreographer Mavin Khoo, was born in Malaysia where he began his dance studies, training in India, Britain and the USA. He studied Bharata Natyam in India and Ballet in London and Contemporary Dance in New York and London. As a Bharata Natyam soloist, Mavin has toured around the world, dancing in Britain, USA, France, Spain, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan. His own company, mavinkhooDance was founded in 2003. Khoo is currently pursuing a MA in Choreography at Middlesex University as British Council scholar. - "choreography at once formally disciplined and brutally explicit" The guardian - "genius" The Dancing Times, UK
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Performances @ Cochrane Theatre

Sat 21 Nov 09 / 7.30 pm / £12 / £8 concs. Book online here / Box Office 020 7269 1606

Poetry Tease
Performer: Ernesto Sarezale
Duration: 10 mins

Description: Poetry Tease combines storytelling, performance art and burlesque.

About the performer: Ernesto Sarezale is a London-based Basque poet and performer. Active for several years on London's poetry and cabaret scenes, Ernesto has been billed at many spoken word events. Ernesto has presented his work at ICA, Corsica Studios, Camden People's Theatre, Drill Hall, Whitechapel Gallery and Goldsmiths. Ernesto's poems have appeared in various magazines.- "a pioneer of nude 'poetry tease'" BIZARRE Burlesque
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iNiT - I'm a party
Performer: iNiT
Duration: 20 mins

Description: iNiT plays sultry dance floor sounds with an electro edge. Cabaret, electronica, rock and Middle Eastern influences fuse into a smokey eyed kaleidoscope.

About the performer: iNiT was formed in 2006 by Guy Harries and M. Both had been working on experimental projects for years - together and separately. iNiT are: Guy Harries (voice, flute), M (guitar, electronics, percussion), Ruth Goller (bass). They have performed widely UK and Europe & recorded for several radio stations.
GFest 08 artist
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We Apologise For any Inconvenience
Performer: Zorras
Duration: 20 mins

Description: A Poetry-music-fusion weirdness that is deeply queer.

About the performer: Sandra Alland and Y. Josephine formed Zorras in 2007, after seeing each other perform at Edinburgh's Who's Your Dandy. They quickly became known for their unique blend of poetry, music and projected images. Sandra Alland is a Scottish-Canadian writer, multimedia artist, performer and activist and presented her work across Canada, the US, Mexico, Bermuda, the UK and Spain. Y. Josephine is a singer, percussionist and composer. She has performed, composed and recorded throughout Venezuela, Aruba, Spain and the UK. - "Alland's words are at once both drolly funny and sweetly strange...Y. Josephine's vocals and percussion really shine and embody the set" - Lock Up Your Daughters Magazine.
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Love in the Metropolis
Performer: Denis Fernando
Duration: 10 mins

Description: A piece of music that evokes the idea of being young and in love with, and in, big cities like London which have championed diversity, difference and acceptance.

About the performer: Denis plays contemporary semi classical piano and runs a band Red Cable named after the battle for Cable Street in the 1930s East London. Denis graduated at Goldsmiths College in London, was the National Black Students Officer on the executive of the National Union of Students, and now also works as a campaigner.
GFest 08 artist
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When I First Met You I Thought I Had Gastroenteritis
Performer: Rachel Mars
Duration: 15 mins

Description: Using memories, questions and a list of toilets visited in New York, Rachel charts what it feels like to have your first attack of queer love.

About the performer: Rachel Mars is a performer and writer. Her shows have been performed at various London venues. Rachel has directed and produced a series of shows for Apples & Snakes. She is part female creative group The Knish Collective and Jewish art anarchists Jewdas.
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Rosie Wilby
Performer: Rosie Wilby
Duration: 20 mins

Description: stand up comedy from 3 solo Edinburgh shows.

About the performer: When singer songwriter Rosie Wilby turned to stand up comedy, immediate success in the prestigious 'So You Think You're Funny' competition kick started a whole new career strand for her. Appearances in the Funny Women 2006, Funny Bones 2006 and Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year 2007 followed. Rosie regularly performs on the LGBT circuit and at festivals including Pride, Homotopia and Glasgay. Recently she performed in Sydney as part of the Mardi Gras festival. Rosie presents Behind The Mic on Resonance FM and was Radio 5 Live's comedy tennis correspondent at Wimbledon 2008. - "talented performer with a winning self-deprecating personality" Evening Standard
GFest 08 artist
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SHUSH!
Performer: Va Lee, (VG Lee)
Duration: 15 mins

Description: Shush is about friendship, illustrating the very different dynamics that exist outside ones of deep emotional involvement.

About the performer: A published novelist V G Lee has also written poetry reviews for Diva magazine and write a quarterly column for Velvet Magazine, also essays in the Stonewall anthology, The Way We Are Now, and '50 gay & lesbian books everybody must read.' She lives and works in Hastings on the South Coast. She has performed widely in major LGBT and mainstream arts festivals.- "V.G. Lee has succeeded in creating an amusing, dramatic lesbian romance" The Big Issue
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