The Beat of Our Hearts: Staging New Histories of LGBTQIA+ Loneliness

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LGBTQIA+ loneliness has a long history, as do the relationships and spaces that LGBTQIA+ people have built for solidarity, creativity, and care. The Beat of Our Hearts will engage LGBTQIA+ and non-LGBTQIA+ audiences with these histories, reconnecting them with past queer lives.

This project is part of an AHRC EDI Engagement Fellowship, run by Dr Charlotte Jones (PI) and Dr Richard Vytniorgu (PDRA) in partnership with local writer Natalie McGrath, the Intercom Trust, and the Northcott Theatre. This work draws upon previous and ongoing loneliness research and collaborations developed by Dr Fred Cooper and Dr Charlotte Jones as part of the WCCEH’s Loneliness and Community Beacon Project.

What are we doing?

The Beat of Our Hearts begins with a programme of creative workshops about loneliness with LGBTQ+ communities in Devon and Cornwall, in partnership with the Intercom Trust, a leading LGBTQ+ charity in the South West. This will culminate in the development and staging of an original performance at Exeter’s Northcott Theatre as part of LGBT+ history month in February 2022. The performance will be written by playwright Natalie McGrath, drawing on a community of queer writers and artists. The performance will be accompanied by a parallel festival of events, bringing in local and national LGBTQIA+ charities, groups, and initiatives.

Why are we doing it?

Many LGBTQIA+ people in Britain have been subject to exclusion and isolation, both historically and today. This can result from explicit discrimination and hostility in family homes, on the street, and from institutions such as our education and healthcare services, as well as a more diffused cultural biases which favour and naturalise some lives and relationships over others. Loneliness is one of the most significant emotional and psychological expressions of this marginalisation.

What’s next?

Over the summer we will be holding our online creative workshops, which will be open to LGBTQIA+ people of all ages who are based in the South West – so watch this space for more details!