The Playbus
Welcoming all Grown Ups aboard the Playbus - the Final Stop of A Curious Town Plays festival!
Join the double decked red wonder on this most curious journey, stopping for marvellous music, playful performances and superb surprises.
Hagstone Stunners presents the May All Day Smackdown
Perfect for wrestling fans & curious folk of all ages - get ready to rumble in a lucid dream! Hagstone Stunners is a show that brings Hastings folklore to life through a mix of drag, high flying wrestling and comedy theatre. This is not wrestling as you’ve seen it before!
Bowl-Side Cinema: Youth Docs After Dark
What happens when you hand the camera to the next generation? Step into the skate bowl at Source Park, sink into a beanbag, and find out.
This one-of-a-kind screening spotlights a series of bold, thought-provoking documentary shorts crafted by the young creatives of The Benbow Youth Film Collective, part of The Bright Foundation. Their lens, their stories—raw, real, and refreshingly unfiltered.
Projected onto the big screen in the atmospheric underbelly of Source Park, this is cinema with a side of skate culture. And yes, The Courtyard’s finest food vendors will be serving all evening, so you won’t go hungry.
Village Fete
Bless our bunting! It’s the Curious Coastal Village Fete. Join our hip Rev Colin Durr and our gorgeous grannies for an afternoon of hilarity. With lots of stations to explore and try your hand at, this will be a day of silly fun and prizes to be won, for all the family.
With all the charm and wholesome informality of a traditional English Village Fete, A Curious Town brings you a day with all the norms, plus a few curious twists. Come along between midday and 5pm to gorge yourself on cream teas, Pimms and high quality local produce from our market stalls. Take part in vegetable carving, get in a spin with our hula hoop workshop and let your creative side out with flower arranging and cake decorating. Have your face painted, enter the raffle to win fabulous prizes, or get your furry best friend to enter into the dog show - because pets deserve prizes too!
And don’t forget to explore the space while you’re at it! St Leonards church will be filled with fantastic artwork in the exhibition, installation pieces upstairs, and curious musicians and walkabout performers roaming around to entertain you!
Church of Duster's Alternative Sunday Service
Get ready to worship at the Church of Duster!!
After the GLORIOUS success of last year’s Alternative Sunday Service we had no choice but to give the people what they wanted and are resurrecting, and disinfecting, the Parish…
Speaking of resurrections, this year we’re going to be putting the FUN in FUNeral! That’s right, it’s not a woke it’s a wake!
Heather Duster’s Sunday Service is an alternative Drag show like you’ve never seen before! It’s the church service that would have even gotten a 21 year old you up, despite crawling into bed at 6am and waking up fully clothed, clutching a Henry Hoover (that isn’t yours!) with last night's kebab smeared across your cheek.
This will be a community event of biblical proportions. It’s guna be a dead good show! Join your charismatic church leader, and Queen of Clean, Heather Duster for this Fabulous and Flirty Funeral at the greatly anticipated second Church of Duster. The power of Drag compels you!!
Don’t coffin, cough up for a ticket and you won’t be disappointed! It really is the funeral of the season darling, come for the sandwiches but stay for the lolz.
Spend your Sunday worshiping drag idols, indulge in drinking the holy spirits and belt out hymns from the likes of Madonna, ABBA and Dolly. Pay your respects to our special guest performers Sweet FA, Gem The Clown, Tayris, Loose Willis, Just Saul and more! At a funeral you can expect the unexpected.
In the name of the scrub daddy™, the mop and the holy duster - put on your sexiest mourning dress fit for a big night out. Black is the new black baby!
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”
Pope Francis
“Shut up and take my money!”
Mother Teresa
“I’d betray anyone for a ticket!”
Judas
Confession Booth, Walkabout Performers + More…
EARLY BIRD TICKETS: £18 OR £14 LOW INCOME
TICKETS £22 OR £16 LOW INCOME
£35 VIP
Heather Duster
is the self titled Queen of Clean! Sweeping the nation with her polished performances she'll wipe the floor and leave you wanting more! Her sparkling singing voice landed her in the final of The Gold Rush season 3 and she's since been sweeping stages across London and the UK
. She has performed at venues such as The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, The Tate Modern, Google head office, Mighty Hoopla Festival and many more! She has hosted Hastings Pride, Queer on the Pier and a year-long residency at The Nest.
"
Heather Duster was so f*cking phenom., highlight of my life"
"Heather Duster was an absolute joy to watch. Her lip syncing is perfection and the acts - genius!!"
Loose Willis
is an award-winning international drag king who serves rock ’n’ roll scuzz, high-camp glamour and comedy excellence. With 10 years of experience as a host, stand up, boylesque performance and all around dirty rotten scoundrel, he is a Creative Associate of the Offie award-winning drag king troupe Pecs and a co-runner and host of Fist Club - a queer professional wrestling cabaret. You might have seen him hanging loose at Soho Theatre, the Southbank Centre, the Barbican, Shakespeare's Globe, Torture Garden or Slaystation.
Gem the Clown
is Brighton's beloved small brown clown and winner of the Winter Big Drag Pageant 2024 and Brighton’s Next Drag Monarch 2024. Blending burlesque, drag, and clowning, Gem transports you into her dreamy cartoon world with a glittering grin, artful costumes, kitschy characters, and plenty of rhinestones.
Sweet FA
Huddersfield boy done God, is the answer to the question, what would happen if Alan Bennett did Sister Act?
He's a love letter to queer Catholics, he's just a Holy fool, and he'll be your Father Figure, baby (with your consent, OFC.) Described by Len Blanco as "so wholesome, it's punk" he uses comedy and music to skewer the church, state and kyriarchy, and to preach queer love and solidarity.
He's the producer and host of Drag Down the Borders, Pride’s Got Talent finalist, and won Not Another Drag Competition season 3.0. Sweet FA has performed at venues all over London including London Pride, the West End, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, the Glory and the Bishopsgate Institute.
Tayris
The Big Beast of Brighton is black in stock! Queen of Afropunk Camp, Winner of the 2021 Big Drag Pageant, and the self-proclaimed P.O.C. - Powerhouse of Colour, Tayris is coming to perspire and inspire!
Vocalist, Lip Sync Assassin, Tap Dancer, Burlesque Artist, Emcee AND versatile top, on every stage Tayris hits she serves, gives curves, and spreads the lurrrveeee!
Just Saul
is a Sussex-based magician and master of ceremonies with over a decade of professional experience and 30 years of honing his craft. For over a decade, he’s been bringing gasps, laughter, and WTF moments to events across the country.
After all, what is a funeral without a magician?
Speckled Wood Activity MORNING
All are welcome to the Curiously Playful Speckled Wood in Ore this year for the whole month of May!
Join us on 24th May for the special Speckled Wood Activity Morning.
Acclaimed local artists, Peter Quinnell, Martin Brockman and Mark Daniels are creating an art trail through this woodland to intrigue and delight folk of all ages. There will be workshops throughout the month of May, with main activity days on the 11th, 24th and culminating with the Speckled Wood Fun day on 31st of May.
The entrance is on Victoria Avenue, which you won’t be able to miss due to Martin’s beautiful arch featuring two Stags. We hope to stir your imagination by adding curiously fascinating artworks throughout the month.
Including: A swinging singing tree, Magical bridges, Otter Creek, a Wishing tree, Draw your
dreams and little things to find along the way.
ACTIVITIES ON 24th MAY INCLUDE:
11am-12pm - Wonder Walk
The Wonder Walk will fill you with awe as you journey through enchanting woodland. Each step will beckon you deeper into an improvised tale, fed by your curiosity and underscored by nature.
In this immersive, interactive experience for all ages, the flora and fauna of the forest will become integral players in the story; their whispers and rustles guiding the plot's twists and turns.
Led by master storytellers and musicians Zoie Kennedy and Desmond O’Connor, the Wonder Walk is for people of all ages. It will open your heart, engage your mind and inspire you to look a little closer at the world in which you live.
Desmond is an internationally renowned and award winning composer, lyricist and performer with over twenty years experience in cabaret, storytelling, comedy and musical theatre. Zoie Kennedy is an actress, puppeteer, published poet, director, artist, producer, writer and founder of the award winning Twice Shy Theatre company.
11.00am-2.00pm (drop in) - Speckled Wood Magic Colouring Book
Artist Martin Brockman will be leading a drop in workshop to create a set of Speckled Wood Colours. These will then be used for a speckled wood magic colouring book. Curious?
Curious Cabaret
Naughty nuns, top calibre performers and a flaming saxophone have made the annual Curious Cabaret the talk of this Curious Town. Returning to the stunning St Leonard’s Church, hosts The Duchess & Son (award winning Desmond O’Connor and Twice Shy Theatre) will transport you on a delectably devilish journey via a host of the most talented and curious characters.
Featuring a selection of the very best local and guest performers, prepare to be astounded by a heady concoction of aerial prowess, titillating burlesque, hula hooping & fire wizardry, alongside belly laughs, more than a sprinkle of magic, dancing and a whole lot more…
Feeling truly sinful? Well, you certainly will be after encountering a member of our curious convent, resplendent in their pink or purple robes. However, no need to condemn yourself to a lifetime down below just yet. Seek out Sister Mary Joanna who will be waiting to hear your many sins in her very special Confession booth.
Come Play with Us in this very Curious Cabaret…
FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT PARTY
🌟 Unlock Your Curiosity at the Opening Party of A Curious Town Plays Festival! 🌟
Join us as the gates swing wide open, officially launching A Curious Town Plays Festival! Step into St Andrew’s Mews and immerse yourself in a world of wonders waiting at every turn.
Prepare for an unforgettable experience with a dazzling array of performances. Enjoy captivating burlesque and fire acts, evocative poetry, lively walkabout games, energizing DJs, live bands, and more—there’s something to enchant everyone!
POETRY LUCKY DIP - A Workshop With Grace Pilkington
On your exploration of all the curious spaces in the Mews, be sure to take a seat with Grace and have a PLAY with poetry!
Dip your hand into a bag of objects which can be used as poetry prompts. Pick one from the bag and then write down the words that you associate with it, and watch a poem form… Also take time to read and discuss some of the greatest poems inspired by objects!
Take a leisurely stroll through the Curiosity Cabinet, showcasing works from local artists, and unleash your playful spirit in the Curious Arcade. Be sure to visit The Dollhouse, where you can dance your heart out at the Kitchen Disco, explore your alter ego or engage in delightful parlour games in the Dressing Room and more —there’s a surprise around every corner!
Indulge in delicious food and drink, including signature Curious Cocktails, from our amazing partners in the Mews.
For updates on the incredible lineup, keep an eye on our website and social media channels. Don’t miss this enchanting festival opening party—come and explore the magic!
*Adults only after 8.30pm*
Play the Town Launch Party
🌟 Embark on an Adventure: Join Us for the Launch of Play the Town! 🌟
Get ready to unlock the magic of art and exploration on April 30th with the exciting launch of Play the Town, an interactive treasure trail that will transform our town into a vibrant canvas of creativity!