Since its formation in 2016, Andro & Eve has become one of the leading organisers of events celebrating queer culture in Sheffield. With LGBT+ History Month on the horizon, we caught up with co-founder and creative producer Katherine Warman to hear more about the social enterprise broadening the scope for LGBT+ community offerings in the city and the importance of providing a platform for marginalised voices.
How did Andro and Eve begin?
My partner, Rhiannon Scutt, and I felt like there wasn’t much to do in the evening here as a queer couple, especially for women, so we decided to put on a film night and things eventually started to grow from there. Our first drag night took place later in 2016, and since then we’ve done three other drag king events, started a party series and our film night recently won Best Single Event at the 2018 Cinema for All Film Society of the Year Awards.
Could you tell us a bit about your day-to-day role and responsibilities at Andro & Eve?
As the managing director and creative producer I run the organisation and programme the events. We set up as a social enterprise last year because the demand was growing; every one of our events had sold out in advance. My background is in producing large-scale outdoor events, and with things looking so positive we decided to develop it into a social enterprise so we could seek funding and offer the best experience possible.
There’s a wide range of events that you offer, from drag king cabaret nights to immersive film screenings. Which ones have you been particularly proud of since starting out?
For me, Women in the Word back in January 2018 had a particularly special atmosphere – to have the spoken word artist DYLEMA perform live was really magical. A wide range of people came from all over the UK, which made it a real standout event for us. A Reyt Queer Do, our pop-up party series where we celebrate performance and all styles of music, has always been really popular and we’ve managed to keep it fresh and use different venues every time. But I think we are mostly known for our drag king cabaret, The Kingdom Come, where we’ve had some amazing performers tackling issues such as trans representation and mental health. There’s a really broad age range with the people who attend the shows, from the youngest at 18-years-old to the oldest in their 80s.
Our first drag night took place in 2016, and since then we’ve done three drag king events, started a party series and our film night won Best Single Event at the 2018 Cinema for All Film Society of the Year Awards.
How would you sum up what you’re all about as an organisation?
Essentially, we’re about celebrating queer culture through social events and helping to inspire others – that’s our mission. Simple as that. It’s all about programming excellence, using all queer culture as our base and trying to focus on the voices of those marginalised in the LGBTQ community.
What are your thoughts on the Sheffield LGBTQ scene at the moment?
We at Andro and Eve feel that particularly for lesbian and queer women there is a bit of a way to go yet. If you’re a CIS white gay man there’s probably a fair amount you can enjoy if you’re comfortable in certain social spaces, but I think Andro and Eve is about creating a place for those who might feel marginalised so they can have a good time too. I think there has been an improvement and there are a lot of people doing good work behind the scenes, but at the same time I think Sheffield sometimes keeps its rainbow heart close to its chest. Not everyone is into noisy nights out, so there could still be more we could offer as a city in that respect.
How will you be celebrating LGBT History Month?
We’ve got our 80s edition of Reyt Queer Do. It’s a queer party hosted by the award-winning drag king Louis Cyfer, who will also be performing on the night. Joining him will be up-and-coming drag king Christian Adore and we’ve also put a call out for people to fill several open mic slots: that could be kings, queens, non-binary, singers, comedians – any fresh talent! Chardine Taylor-Stone from punk band Big Joanie will be doing a DJ set, playing all the 80s classics, and of course there’ll be cake and plenty of dry ice. It’s going to be a big, sparkly party!
Interested in finding out more or volunteering with Andro and Eve? Head over to androandeve.com to get in touch, or give them a follow – facebook.com/androandeve // @androandeve
