An LGBTQ+ venue which platforms queer performers in Hackney has completed the latest run of a long-running open-mic event.
The Divine in Dalston has been running Werk In Progress, a free weekly event that gives performers an audience to test out their newest work, for over 10 years.
The venue is celebrated for its open-door policy and work platforming emerging queer artists, from drag to spoken word to string quartets, and prides itself on being a traditional safe space.
The Divine co-founder John Sizzle, said: “A lot of people come here, unsure of themselves, lacking confidence, fearful and disconnected.
“Over time they build friendship groups and performance opportunities and they grow into independent, free thinking, positive, creative, astute, hardworking individuals that contribute to society.
“Queer spaces are always important. Especially for younger queers who are finding their feet in what can be a tricky city.
“Without these spaces, I don’t know how people would become confident adults, and confident adults contribute to society – we’re taxpayers, we’re care workers, we’re teachers, we’re nurses and doctors.”
Sizzle started his career in marketing, then spent 20 years as a drag performer before opening The Divine’s predecessor, The Glory, with business partners Jonny Woo and Colin Rothbart in 2014 – where many of their flagship events were born.
The venue holds a variety of events from its famous LIPSYNC1000 competition, to gender-reaffirming fundraisers, to its Werk In Progress showcases, which come back around every few months.
With the cost of living crisis in the back of everyone’s mind, and ticket prices for concerts and live performances forever on the rise, Werk In Progress allows audiences and acts to experience a fun night out without the financial worry.
Sizzle said: “Its important that people have access to these spaces and they can afford to do it.
“It’s important for people who want to experiment in the arts, who probably haven’t before. It’s low risk, it’s safe and you’re in there with like-minded people.”
The shows gives performers a stage to showcase their craft, whether it is short or long-form, work which has just been created, or work which is en route to being a fully realised piece.
Sizzle added: “We’re not part of the manosphere, being destructive and causing fear and destruction in the world.
“It’s very much a positive lead community.”
When The Glory closed its doors just over two years ago, Werk In Progress was reborn with comedian Rachel Porter as host and curator.
Talking about the events, Porter said: “I think it’s just so nice to have a place where you can test stuff with no stakes.
“You can do it and you don’t have to do it again, or you can do it and ask somebody for feedback.
“I’m always just blown away, especially people that haven’t performed before – they often don’t tell me until afterwards.”
She added: “My favourite people are the ones that have never performed before and then absolutely knock it out the park.
“Lots of people come back and do it again, and lots of people come to watch either before or after they’ve done it.
“We have people who have never performed something for the first time, we’ve had people that I’ve known for years trying out new stuff, we’ve even had Lavinia Co-Op – and she was performing in New York in the 1970s.”
Porter also uses the events to force herself to write, and test, new material.
She believes the best way to overcome the task of creating is to book a slot before you even have an act, which forces you to create something.
Porter said: “When you’re doing writing of any kind, especially as a performance, you just have to book the date and do the thing.
“I’m not somebody that just sits down and writes all the time. But when I have a deadline, like Werk In Progress, I try and do a new thing every week.”
However, Porter explained said it was easier to get council funding and find a space in the performance industry when she started out.
She said: “You could get on the ladder and you had a trajectory, especially in this quite specific performance-slash-theatre space.”
Porter is also a part of comedy group Figs in Wigs and explained when they do a show, they receive Arts Council Funding, have collaborators, book rehearsal spaces and sort marketing.
She said: “It’s brilliant to have all of that, but then it’s also great to have something that’s quite grassroots like Werk In Progress.
“It doesn’t matter if you fail.”
As the digital world pulls people further away from each other, in-person events like Werk In Progress become even more important to keep communities like these alive.
Porter said: “What I think is great about Werk in Progress is that it is free to come and watch, and right now it is hard, so having a regular thing on a Tuesday where you can get out of the house and see some stuff is amazing.
“I also think that social media is so overwhelming and what is so nice is that every week I am meeting new artists, without having to be looking at my phone.
“We’re communicating in real time and in real life.”
Porter added: “I just hope that we continue and that we always have a big audience, regularly.
“We don’t need it to be jammed to the rafters, but just for more people to come and see it.”
For more information about The Divine and Werk In Progress, visit the venue’s website.
Feature image: Lizzie Bradley
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