Category Archives: History

Crossing the Line: LGBTQ+ History Month 28/2/25

We are delighted to bring Aberration back to the magnificent Ceredigion Museum in Aberystwyth with ‘Crossing the Line’, programmed especially for LGBTQ+ History Month.

We’ve put together an amazing evening of stories and film, facts and fabulousness for you all. Programme below. Edrych ymlaen!

Aberration presents Crossing The Line

An evening for LGBTQ+ History Month Friday 28 February 6.30-10pm, Amgueddfa Ceredigion Museum, Aberystwyth. Tickets: £8 early bird (plus 80p booking fee) or £10 on the door.

Early bird tickets from Outsavvy: link.outsavvy.com/crossing

Aberration will be taking a journey around Ceredigion and beyond, including queer and trans Celtic history and mythology and some of the characters and events on our Ceredigion LGBTQ+ timeline. We are also proud to be hosting the Wales launch of a new book, 3000 Lesbians Go to York, about a much-loved national arts festival. The evening ends with a new film celebrating Aberration’s own contribution to Welsh LBGTQ+ culture and arts over more than ten years.

PROGRAMME

6.30    Doors open: Come and have a look at the Ceredigion Timeline and add your stories.

7pm Welcome from your Aberration hosts, Helen Sandler, Jane Hoy and Ruth Fowler

Dr Cheryl Morgan: In Search of Trans Celts

Cheryl will look at evidence from archaeology, Roman writers, and Arthurian legend, to see what we can tell about how our ancestors saw gender.

7.30pm   Queering the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi: power, resistance, and desire

This talk by Colin Audigé-Soutter, based on his MA thesis, illuminates the potential queer undercurrents pulsing through one of Celtic literature’s most enigmatic narratives.

8pm  INTERVAL  Refreshments and Bar, Raffle for All Out &  another opportunity to add your story to the Ceredigion Timeline

8.30   The Ceredigion Timeline: an interactive journey

Norena Shopland describes the background to the Timeline – a project to record the LGBTQ+ history of every county in Cymru. Jane Hoy introduces some of Ceredigion’s queer characters and events with friends of Aberration reading their words.

9pm   Three Thousand Lesbians Go To York

Jane Traies will launch her lavishly illustrated new book about the lesbian arts festivals that drew crowds of thousands in the Noughties. She will talk about the research and the forthcoming film. Aberration’s own Helen Sandler, publisher of the book, will facilitate a discussion with Jane and Mid Wales locals who went to York Lesbian Arts Festival (YLAF).

9.30    Aberration: a celebration

FILM PREMIERE! Ruth, Helen and Jane of Aberration show Amy Daniel’s new short film about Aberration’s first decade, discuss why they commissioned it and invite questions and discussion.

10pm Ends


The Land of Might Have Been 16/10/24

[PAST EVENT]

Wednesday 16 October 2024 at Aberystwyth Arts Centre ~ Music Theatre Wales in association with Aberration present:

Bwystfilod Aflan / Unclean Beasts
+ The Land of Might Have Been

CYMRAEG >>

ENGLISH: New performances mark the centenary of Edward Prosser Rhys winning the 1924 Eisteddfod Crown – and the backlash against his poem, ‘Atgof’, which depicted desire for both women and men.

Tickets

TICKETS from Aberystwyth Arts Centre here >>
Discount if you select ‘Aberration Member’ from price list, after choosing your seats. Yes, if you are reading this you are an honorary Aberration member!

10% off food in cafe with your ticket. Special 1920s-themed martinis and gins in bar.

Programme

The evening will be presented in two parts (with interval) and across two spaces:

6.30pm to 7.30pm Great Hall – The Land of Might Have Been

Presented by Aberration, the Mid Wales LGBTQ+ arts company. Come with us through the portal into the mysterious Land of Might Have Been. It’s the 1920s: a time of inverts and androgyny, flirtation and endless possibilities. What wisdom might our queer Welsh ancestors have passed on to Edward Prosser Rhys and his intimate circle of friends? The answers wing in through words, music and a touch of star-gazing. Performed mainly in English

Cast: Colin Audigé-Soutter, Jane Hoy, Simon Robson, Helen Sandler Musician: Ruth Gordon
Butler: Ruth Fowler Design & Production: Jenny Pearce Written, researched & directed
by Jane Hoy with Helen Sandler

Diolch yn fawr: Becky Mitchell (TFTS), Mike Parker, Music Theatre Wales, Music @ Aber, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Wynnstay Machynlleth

8pm to 9pm Theatr y Werin – 
Bwystfilod Aflan / Unclean Beasts

Presented by Music Theatre Wales, Bwystfilod Aflan / Unclean Beasts challenges societal norms through music, dance and film, spotlighting the clash between tradition and the need for change. Eddie Ladd offers her own interpretation of the original poem through movement, followed by a new operatic monologue by Conor Mitchell, performed by tenor Elgan Llŷr Thomas. Created and directed by Jac Ifan Moore, this is a National Eisteddfod commission with Music Theatre Wales and Aberystwyth University Music Centre, performed with Sinfonia Cymru.

‘A little gem of a show’ – Barn magazine

Performed in Welsh with captions in English

Get your tickets now for this unique double bill >>

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Bwystfilod Aflan 16/10/24

ENGLISH >>

Nos Fercher 16 Hydref 2024, Canolfan y Celfyddydau Aberystwyth ~ Music Theatre Wales mewn cydweithrediad ag Aberration yn cyflwyno:

Bwystfilod Aflan / Unclean Beasts
+ The Land of Might Have Been

Perfformiadau newydd i ddathlu canmlwyddiant Edward Prosser Rhys yn ennill Coron yr Eisteddfod ym 1924 – a’r adlach yn erbyn ei gerdd, ‘Atgof’, a ddarluniai ddyhead am fenywod a gwrywod fel ei gilydd.

Tocynnau >>
Dewiswch 'Aelod Aberration' am ddisgownt!

Cyflwynir y noson mewn dwy ran (gydag egwyl) ac ar draws dau leoliad:

6.30pm – 7.30pm, Neuadd Fawr – The Land of Might Have Been

Cyflwynir gan Aberration, cwmni celfyddydau LGBTQ+ Canolbarth Cymru. Agorwch ddrysau drych ein cwpwrdd coctels i gael eich ysgwyd a’ch cynhyrfu wrth i ni fynd i mewn i’r Land of Might Have Been rhyfeddol. Dyma’r 1920au: cyfnod o wrthdroadau ac androgynedd, fflyrtio a phosibiliadau diddiwedd. Pa ddoethineb y gallai ein hynafiaid Cymreig cwiar ei drosglwyddo i Edward Prosser Rhys a’i gylch agos o ffrindiau? Mae’r atebion yn dod i’r amlwg trwy eiriau, cerddoriaeth ac ychydig o syllu ar sêr.

Perfformir yn bennaf yn Saesneg.

8pm – 9pm, Theatr y Werin- Bwystfilod Aflan / Unclean Beasts

Gyda Music Theatre Wales yn cyflwyno, mae Bwystfilod Aflan / Unclean Beasts yn herio normau cymdeithasol trwy opera, dawns a ffilm, gan amlygu’r gwrthdaro rhwng traddodiad a’r angen am newid. Mae Eddie Ladd yn cynnig ei dehongliad ei hun a’i myfyrdod personol ar y gerdd wreiddiol mewn symudiad, gyda monolog operatig newydd gan Conor Mitchell yn dilyn, a berfformir gan y tenor Elgan Llŷr Thomas. Wedi’i greu a’i gyfarwyddo gan Jac Ifan Moore, dyma gomisiwn yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol gyda Music Theatre Wales a Chanolfan Gerdd Prifysgol Aberystwyth, a berfformir gyda Sinfonia Cymru.

‘Perl fach o sioe’ – BARN

Perfformir yn y Gymraeg gyda chapsiynau yn Saesneg.

Archebwch eich tocynnau nawr >>

Peace of Writing workshop 27/7/24

Cymraeg >>

Saturday 27 July 11am to 3pm Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth: Creative writing workshop hosted by Sian Howys of Academi Heddwch Cymru, with historian Norena Shopland and Aberration’s own Jane Hoy, inspired by the Welsh Women’s Peace Petition of 1923-24. Scroll down for details and booking link.

You may have heard of the Welsh Women’s Peace Petition, which was signed by nearly 400,000 women from across the country, sent in a huge chest to the USA a century ago; and has recently returned to Cymru. But who were the women who signed this petition? We will hear the stories behind some of these women, and have the opportunity to write our own stories, poems or other writing in response to their lives.

Images of some of the women who signed, provided by their relatives

Details

Welsh Women’s Peace Appeal 1923/24
Peace of Writing Creative Workshop – free of charge!

Education Room, National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
Saturday July 27 11 am – 3 pm

Refreshments: Tea and coffee will be provided and Pendinas cafe will be open for light refreshments.

With Norena Shopland (Women and LGBTQ+ Historian) and Jane Hoy (Queer Tales from Wales and Aberration). You will be guided to produce short pieces of creative writing – poems, stories or other –  inspired by the hidden histories of the women who signed the Welsh Women’s Peace Petition 1923/24.

Four women with petition
M.G. (Gladys) Thomas; Mary Elizabeth Ellis; Annie Jane Hughes-Griffiths; Elined Prys
(Gwefan Llyfrgell Genedlaethol / National Library of Wales website)

You can present your work in Welsh or English. With your permission, the Petitioning Peace project would like to consider including any finalised pieces within the project’s collection of creative work.  

To receive further information about the workshop and to book your free place please email: post@academiheddwch.cymru


Ladies of Llangollen play at Plas Newydd

Saturday 3 August 3.30pm Plas Newydd, Llangollen: Queer Tales from Wales present ‘An Extraordinary Female Affection: The life and love of the Ladies of Llangollen’. An entertaining promenade performance in the grounds of the very house where the ladies lived two hundred years ago. Performed in English.

Tickets are £22.50 (plus booking fee), to include tea and cake with the Ladies and entry to the House during the day.

Book your tickets on Eventbrite >>

Poster text:

[CYMRAEG] Dydd Sadwrn 3ydd Awst, 3:30 PM

Perfformiad chwareus lle mae Sarah Ponsonby ac Eleanor Butler yn mynd â chi ar daith o
diroedd eu cartref, Plas Newydd. Atgynhyrchiad bywiog o’u 50 mlynedd gyda’i gilydd, gyda help y gynulleidfa, gwartheg anwes, hel straeon enllibus ac ymweliadau gan ferched sy’n eu hedmygu, gan gynnwys Anne Lister. Wedi’i gyflwyno gan Jane Hoy a Helen Sandler mewn hetiau befar.

Pris tocynnau yw £22.50, gan gynnwys te a chacen gyda’r Merched a mynediad i’r Tŷ yn ystod y dydd.

Tocynnau >>

[ENGLISH] Saturday 3rd August, 3:30 PM

A playful promenade performance in which Sarah Ponsonby and Eleanor Butler take you on a tour of the grounds of their home Plas Newydd. A lively re-imagining of their 50 years together helped along by the audience, pet cows, scurrilous gossip and visits from their women admirers including Anne Lister. Presented by Jane Hoy and Helen Sandler in beaver hats.

Tickets are £22.50, to include tea and cake with the Ladies and entry to the House during the day.

Book your tickets on Eventbrite >>

‘Double Lives’ – LGBTQ+ History Month 24/02/24

Saturday 24 February 2024
Aberystwyth Arts Centre

For LGBTQ+ History Month UK, Aberration presents ‘Double Lives’ – an evening of talks and live performances. Plus afternoon tea party about Section 28 [sold out], and a chance to eat together in the cafe between events.

5.30pm Dinner break

Eat together in the Arts Centre Café. Pay as you go – just turn up!

EVENING PROGRAMME

Double Lives

Cymraeg>>

Performance Studio (Round Room) Aberystwyth Arts Centre 7pm to 10pm £10 / £8

**WEDI GWERTHU ALLAN / SOLD OUT!**

Our evening of lively talks and performances includes the groundbreaking writer-performer Tom Marshman (pictured) who returns to Aberration to present painful, beautiful and hilarious anecdotes from his new theatre piece about Section 28, ‘The Show of Shows’.

Jane Hoy (left) and Norena Shopland are collaborating to present a new performance piece about the life of Katherine Philips, the 17C Anglo-Welsh poet and translator also known as the Welsh Sappho and the Matchless Orinda (and now our poster girl for Double Lives – see top image).

Alis Hawkins, author of A Bitter Remedy – a new historical crime novel with a feisty Welsh
heroine and a queer twist – will be in conversation with host Helen Sandler.

Alessandro Ceccarelli presents an illustrated talk on ‘Queering Archaeology and Heritage: a visual story of desire, love and identities from prehistory to modern day through Welsh collections.’

+ surprise guest just announced! The fabulous Rhys Slade-Jones @boparhys

PLUS: Bookstall from Gayberystwyth Books, and raffle for AllOut.

More about Speakers & Performers >>

**WEDI GWERTHU ALLAN / SOLD OUT!** Arts Centre link >>

SPONSOR

Aberration is generously supported by Aberystwyth University.

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