Out in the Sticks returns to The Courtyard (From Hereford Times)

Out in the Sticks returns to The Courtyard

9:00am Thursday 10th May 2012 in News

OUT in the Sticks, the annual festival of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender events, returns to The Courtyard on Monday for a fifth year.

“The events programmed are by no means exclusively for LGBT people,” says Martyn Green, chief executive at The Courtyard.

“The festival is about raising awareness and bringing the whole community together to promote tolerance and understanding.

This year’s festival has a very inclusive programme of performances and films which are accessible and fun for everyone.”

Kicking things off is Raining Men, the story of Phil, Doug and Colin, who work together in a nightclub.

When their act fails to turn up, the boys have to put on a little show of their own.

Featuring the music of Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and Shirley Bassey, this show tells the tale of a night where The Full Monty meets Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. The show, from Chris Ponka, the writer of Hen Party Night, has received excellent reviews from critics and audiences alike, with its uproarious humour and tongue-in-cheek presentations of everyone from Edith Piaf to Scary Spice.

Next up, on Wednesday, are Girlyman with their close-harmony pop-folk.

Their music spans genres and they play acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, djembe and electric baritone guitar.

Girlyman have progressed from being longterm stablemates of the Indigo Girls to being major American headliners in their own right.

The three founding members of Girlyman have been playing together since sharing an apartment during college, before being joined by JJ Jones, at that time drumming for Po’ Girl.

Broadway cult hit My Big Gay Italian Wedding – it played to sell-out houses in New York for four years – comes to The Courtyard on May 18. Andrew and Anthony are getting married, and everyone wants to help. The plans soon become an hysterical fiasco as everyone tries to get their way, and personalities and cultures collide in a music and dance filled extravaganza.

To close the festival it’s Abba Mania, fresh from a smash-hit tour of the USA. The show will include all the favourites, including Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia and Super Trouper. One of the most successful Abba shows in the world, Abba Mania promises ‘disco heaven’ for a night.

The festival will also include a programme of LGBT films, including Cloudburst, a road movie unlike any you’ll have seen before. Butch Stella and blind Dotty have been together 31 years, and when Dotty is put in an old people’s home it doesn’t take Stella long to break her woman out of there.

The two septuagenarian lovers, played by Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker, then head to Canada to get married.

Wickedly funny, Cloudbust is an exploration of life, death and most importantly the love one can find along the way.

Out in the Sticks runs from Monday until May 19. For further details or to book, call the box office on 01432 340555

Click to go to The Courtyard