2025 -

oh taste and varda! (that the duchess is bona) 

“in the beginning, gloria created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was nanti form, and void. and munge was upon the eke of the deep”

IN THE EARLY 2000s, the Manchester chapter of THE sisters of perpetual indulgence, a global order of gay male nuns, embarked on their largest task ever. To (in spite of moral, cultural, and fashionable OBJECTION) translate the king james bible into polari, THE HIDDEN GAY LANGUAGE OF THE 20TH CENTURY QUEER SUB-CULTURE.

in the twentieth anniversary year of its first complete edition, this piece begs the question: what potential exists within this narrative, which has traditionally been used to demonise and evicerate the queer and trans community, to act as a generator of fantastically queer performance?

OH TASTE AND VARDA (THAT THE DUCHESS IS BONA) IS PART OF A LARGER SCALE NATIONAL VISION TO ENGAGE TRANS+ AND QUEER THEATRE-MAKERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY IN MAKING WORK FOR AND BY THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES.

PART ONE: IN THE BEGINNING

“OLD TESTAMENT. THE HOME OF ALL THE BITS THAT MAKE OUR LIVES ESPECIALLY HARD”

partner venues:

LONDON PERFORMANCE STUDIOS

  • Developed as part of London Performance Studios Seeding Space Residency

    CREATIVE DIRECTOR DANIELLE JAMES

    CO-CREATORS

    CREATIVE MENTOR

    FOR PUSHBACK THEATRE…

    CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Georgie Lynch

    CREATIVE PRODUCER Cameron Robinson

    WITH THANKS TO…

PART TWO: IN THE MIDDLE

“NOW THE BIRTH OF JOSIE CRYSTAL WAS ON THIS WISE…”

PART THREE: IN THE END

“THE GRACIE OF OUR DUCHESS JOSIE CRYSTAL BE WITH YOU ALL. LARLOU”

“ and THE DOWRIEST OF THESE IS LOVE ”

The bible is a narrative that is ripe for queer dramatisation and performance, and yet is a narrative that has been weaponised against trans and queer folk for generations. part of this project is about building and engaging with performance frameworks for communities who might not otherwise PERCEIVE themselves to be makers, but also to begin to heal a wound left by religious and INSTITUTIONAL violence.

raised in an irish-catholic and jesuit context, i recognise the negative impact religion can have on the psyche of a young queer person. BUT I ALSO RECOGNISE THE IMPORTANT LESSONS THAT CAN BE TAKEN FROM THE BIBLICAL NARRATIVE, LESSONS THAT ALSO EXTEND To the core ethos OF THE QUEER spirit: LOVE, COMPASSION, EMPATHY, COMMUNITY.

This project seeks to combine all of these things to create a truly life-changing theatrical and performance experience.

A national project of reclamation