John-John, little Tony and I trolled along to the legendary gay nightclub Heaven on Tuesday evening - not for a night of dancing and debauchery, needless to say at our venerable age, but for a special edition of "London's peerless gay literary salon" Polari!
As it was
when last we were there, the main dancefloor was packed with punters (seated for a change) - including Our Paul, Emma and Toby, Bryanne and Simon, Adele Anderson, Karen McLeod, Paulo, our former Scope colleague David and his hubbie Max, Ian Elmslie, and many more regulars and assorted literati - eagerly awaiting a cultural, rather than hedonistic, experience. Our host Mr Paul Burston, paying tribute to Madonna's "Madam X" at stages throughout the show, opened the proceedings with aplomb...
...and first up we had a
pantomime (after a fashion) -
"oh, yes we did!" -
a Trans Fairy Tale, performed by Cerys Evans. As the review in
Broadway Baby described:
Once upon a time there was a fairy godmother. Except, this fairy godmother is more likely to say ‘bibbity-bobbity-fuck-you’ than turn a pumpkin into a silver carriage. She’s not magical, she doesn’t really care about her spoilt princess clients and she wakes up with her wild hair, her nightgown inside out and blowing raspberries...
Subversive, or what? The snippet of the show we got probably didn't do the show justice, but this was a good ice-breaking opener nonetheless.
As this special event formed part of this year's LGBT History Month, Paul Burston stepped outside his usual "safe zone" of MC, interviewer or reader of his own works of fiction into a more autobiographical mood [he hinted that there may indeed be a memoir-in-the-making]. Accompanied by a mini-slideshow of photos from his youth, to varying degrees somewhat embarrassing, he gave us a little vignette from his younger (more naive) days on the gay scene - enamoured of a Greek Adonis to such a degree he abandoned a family holiday to seek him out on a neighbouring Aegean isle, only, as is the way with whirlwind romances, to be sorely disappointed by the reunion. Lessons learned all round, but all part of life's rich tapestry, I suppose.
I look forward to seeing this salacious tell-all story being serialised in the
Sunday People in the near future!
Completing the triumvirate of acts in the first half was the award-winning performance poet and activist
Joelle Taylor, with her dramatic poem
Cunto, latterly re-titled
Butterfly Fist - which she herself described as:
"highlighting the journey we masculine women, we butches, we gold star lesbians have taken. It speaks of the female body as a political act and focuses on one simple intent: the taking back of a body. It looks at homophobia and misogyny and talks about the community we forged to overcome the grief of our own lives."
And here's just the merest clip of it, for your delectation:
Stunning stuff, indeed!
We really needed a fag after that, and, after the much-needed "comfort break", a trip to the bar and a little chance to mingle, it was up with the strobe and on with the rest of the show...
Opening proceedings was the glamorous
Nikita Gill - a self-made success story thanks to her posts on social media - who read a few marvellous pieces from her new poetry anthology
Great Goddesses, exploring some of the hidden-in-plain-sight same-sex desires of the Olympians. With stanzas such as these, who could resist?
“You, who wove stars into your hair as a girl,
and equally let them freckle your skin,
held the moon up as a looking-glass
and bewitched existence for eternity.”
"I watch Girl become Goddess
and the metamorphosis is more
magnificent than anything
I have ever known."
Of course, it could not end there.
There was a real treat in store, as the very lovely
David McAlmont and his esteemed collaborator
Janette Mason took to the stage, to perform a series of numbers from LGBT+ artists - including David Bowie and George Michael - and those we adore, such as Dame Shirley Bassey (Mr McAlmont's impeccable version of
Diamonds Are Forever, of course!).
Despite the occasional crack in his voice (due to a cold), the shivers were riding up and down my spine throughout this brilliant performance! Why-oh-why is Mr McAlmont not up there with the great soul legends?!
We were left speechless.
Another
triumphal night co-ordinated by Mr Burston - and, despite the absence of the DJ as advertised on our Eventbrite tickets, a thoroughly enjoyable one.
Next month, "the salon" returns to the Southbank, with headliner Philip Hensher, plus readings from Susie Lynes, Jennie Stone and Jamie Christian. I can't wait!
We love
Polari!
