LGBTQ+, Storytelling

Queer Folks' Tales

with Turan Ali, Scott Agnew, Belszki & Harry Mould

(Thu 10 Nov: 7.30pm)

Welcome to Queer Folks’ Tales, our hugely popular bi-monthly storytelling series where queer storytellers from a diverse range of backgrounds, ages and cultures share stories of LGBTQ+ lives, past, present and future. Sometimes hilarious, often moving, occasionally shocking, the mix of true and fictional stories across the year is as varied as the range of storytellers we invite. Household names feature alongside new and diverse queer storytellers from the different communities of Scotland. Many of the stories told in the Queer Folks' Tales evenings will be true stories of LGBTQ+ experience in Scotland today.

Turan Ali has been producing, directing and writing BBC Radio dramas and comedies for over 20 years. He has also been telling stories of queer lives and experiences on stage since 2012, including his Edinburgh Fringe one man show Don't Frighten the Straights (2019) which toured to Vienna, Amsterdam and the King's Head Theatre in London. His new one-man show An International Slut will be coming to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2023.

Scott Agnew is an award winning and critically acclaimed stand-up comedian. Over the years his fringe shows have tackled issues facing modern gay men including mental health, HIV, addictions, homophobia and stigma as well as drawing on his own experiences of sauna culture and the chemsex scene. Having survived a heart attack and three cardiac arrests last year, life is somewhat calmer for the Glaswegian comedian these days and life finds him in more reflective mood.

Belszki creates taboo-smashing feminist theatre and is currently touring her fourth solo show 'Me? No Pause!' a guide to surviving perimenopause. She delivers a fusion of spoken word, comedy, sketches, cabaret and improv. Her work is political and feminist, taken from a lesbian perspective, and she has performed internationally, including Edinburgh Fringe runs in 2018 and 2019.

Harry Mould is an artist, writer and Equity Access and Inclusion consultant. They are The Lyceum's first EDI Associate, on the Board for theatre companies Vanishing Point and Wonder Fools, and a core member of the Harassment in the Performing Arts working group (Federation of Scottish Theatre). Harry is a graduate of Stonewall's Role Model programme. Rather than making room for more people at the table, Harry believes in democratising the arts and getting rid of the table altogether. We are grateful to Harry for stepping in to replace Melisa Kelly for this show.

Queer Folks' Tales is funded by the City of Edinburgh Council’s Diversity & Inclusion Fund.