Kaleidoscope
Live performance from queer-identifying artists
Event details
Sun 16 Nov 2025 4pm
Kaleidoscope – kalos (beautiful), eidos (shape), and –scope (an instrument for seeing).
The kaleidoscope symbolizes the ever-changing and infinite possibilities of human experience. Like its shifting patterns, each of us holds unique qualities that reveal themselves in different lights and environments—constantly evolving, always beautiful in motion.
Queerness, like a kaleidoscope, isn’t static—it’s movement, discovery, and the beauty of becoming.
Kaleidoscope is a collection of new work from queer-identifying artists in response to The Line of Beauty‘s captivating portrayal of the division and decadence of 1980s Britain, including class politics, the HIV and AIDS crisis, and the lived experience of queer people.
Running time: Approx. 90 mins, without an interval.
You can book access tickets by calling the Box Office on 020 7359 4404 or email boxoffice@almeida.co.uk
Kaleidoscope ticket holders are invited to join our Beauty Bar celebration after the performance.
CREATIVE PROMPTS
From drag performances, spoken-word, poetry, music or a self-written monologue, we asked our artists to respond to one of these prompts:
1. The kaleidoscope symbolises the ever-changing and infinite possibilities of the human experience. Like its shifting patterns, each of us holds unique qualities that reveal themselves in different lights and environments—constantly evolving, always beautiful in motion.
2. Queerness, like a kaleidoscope, isn’t static—it’s movement, discovery, and the beauty of becoming.
PERFORMERS
Daniel Darling
Daniel Darling
Daniel Darling (he/him) is a writer and performer with a love for the camp and a flair for the sincerely stupid. He hopes to liberate shame by exposing the icky sticky bits of life that we’d rather keep hidden.
A Good Strong Drink sees starlet Aubrey Well forced to reconcile with the values she has sacrificed in pursuit of success—but forget that! Aubrey is here to deliver entertainment, heavy pours, and above all: glamour.
On Kaleidoscope: Daniel Darling (Writer and Performer).
Barney Doran (Pound Puppy)
Barney Doran (Pound Puppy)
Pound Puppy is the anarchic love child of Barney Doran and Anna Fenton Garvey – both birthed out of London’s ruthless drag scene and then relentlessly semi-supined in leotards at the Oxford School of Drama. They are currently developing a new musical for the summer programme at the Kings Head Theatre. Recent work includes their dystopian black comedy Dormouse (Kings Head Theatre/ Counterminers/ Golden Goose) and short film The Friendship Contract which debuted at the Mister Tibbs Film Festival.
Barney Doran’s (they/them) recent writing work includes: Same Penis Forever (Pleasance Theatre/ Kick The Door Down); Man on the Moon (Riverside Studios) and The Great Deemer (Pleasance Theatre). Their poetry has been published internationally most notably in Popshot Journal, Fruitcake Magazine and for the London LGBT Centre. Recent acting work includes Demon (Mercury Theatre/ Paines Plough EOE); Mouse King (Hackney Showrooms); Sink (Apple TV/ Bryony Kimmings) and Family of Things (Riverside Studios).
10 things to tell yourself in the line to the gay club navigates the brutal landscape of desirability in non binary bodies. After the gruelling 3 week ascent, two strangers meet in the queue for The Peak. There are strict rules for entry. Are you hot enough to get into the club?
On Kaleidoscope: Pound Puppy (Writers and Performers); Molly Stacey (Director); Hani Hooper (Sound Design); Rheana Kamalu (Voice Over).
Esmee
Esmee
Esmee is a producer, singer, and songwriter from London. Known for their experimental sound that fuses elements of genres across electronic, hip-hop, and pop, Esmee pushes the boundaries of modern songwriting with unorthodox sounds and production techniques. Esmee’s music explores themes of adolescence, anxiety, and the modern age, characterising their innovative take on modern electronic music.
On Kaleidoscope: Esmee; Mayan; Ryski.
Anna Fenton Garvey (Pound Puppy)
Anna Fenton Garvey (Pound Puppy)
Pound Puppy is the anarchic love child of Barney Doran and Anna Fenton Garvey – both birthed out of London’s ruthless drag scene and then relentlessly semi-supined in leotards at the Oxford School of Drama. They are currently developing a new musical for the summer programme at the Kings Head Theatre. Recent work includes their dystopian black comedy Dormouse (Kings Head Theatre/ Counterminers/ Golden Goose) and short film The Friendship Contract which debuted at the Mister Tibbs Film Festival.
Anna Fenton Garvey’s (they/them) recent writing work includes Family of Things (Riverside Studios) and the debut of their short Sneaky Grinders for The Indoors Project. Anna is also currently starring as Charlotte Lucas in the BBC’s new drama The Other Bennett Sister alongside Richard E Grant, Ruth Jones and Indira Varma.
10 things to tell yourself in the line to the gay club navigates the brutal landscape of desirability in non binary bodies. After the gruelling 3 week ascent, two strangers meet in the queue for The Peak. There are strict rules for entry. Are you hot enough to get into the club?
On Kaleidoscope: Pound Puppy (Writers and Performers); Molly Stacey (Director); Hani Hooper (Sound Design); Rheana Kamalu (Voice Over).
Ianto Griffin
Ianto Griffin
Ianto (they/them) is an actor, writer, and musician, with a background in Anthropology. They recently composed the score for Entredeux, a short film premiering at the Barbican, as well as co-writing a play for children. Later this year, they will be rehearsing the lead role of a new production by Peter Darney. Their work engages with the intersection of complex personal and social histories, and they are interested in bringing challenging ideas to young audiences.
On Kaleidoscope: Ianto Griffin (Performer); Maxi Himpe (Director, Dramaturg and Archivist).
Asiya Lawal
Asiya Lawal
Asiya Lawal (she/her) is a Nigerian actress and writer based in London. After falling in love with acting, she started writing with a focus on stories that deal with themes of grief, identity and family.
Mrs. Rasheed (Or Why God Didn’t Make Me a Cis Woman) is a one woman play centred on a Muslim northern Nigerian woman reckoning with the choices she’s made in life after realising her choices were never truly hers to begin with.
On Kaleidoscope: Asiya Lawal (Writer and Performer).
Siân Lawrence
Siân Lawrence
Siân (she/her) is an actor and writer from south-east London. She recently finished her training at Mountview. Prior to this she studied at Oxford University and Université d’Aix-Marseille. She is interested in writing about politics past and present, and all the mess that comes with it.
Veiling My Blushes is Siân’s piece for Kaleidoscope.
On Kaleidoscope: Siân Lawrence (Writer and Performer).
Charlotte McBurney (Cissyphus)
Charlotte McBurney (Cissyphus)
Charlotte (she/they) is an actor and co-founder of the theatre collective, fish in a dress. They are best known for their BAFTA nominated performance in A Plague Tale.
Cissyphus the drag clown is attempting to make sense of the web of tokenisation, homophobia and racism he experiences. Brought onto a talk show at different points in time, he asks himself: has the notion of change always been an illusion?
On Kaleidoscope: Rafaela Nicolay (Lead Artist); Charlotte McBurney (Collaborator).
Rafaela Nicolay (Cissyphus)
Rafaela Nicolay (Cissyphus)
Rafaela (she/they) is an actor, drag performer and writer originally hailing from Switzerland and based in London since 2018. Their existential drag clown persona Cissyphus was born in 2023 and has performed throughout London’s queer venues, placing 3rd in the 2024 Man Up competition.
Cissyphus is attempting to make sense of the web of tokenisation, homophobia and racism he experiences. Brought onto a talk show at different points in time, he asks himself: has the notion of change always been an illusion?
On Kaleidoscope: Rafaela Nicolay (Lead Artist); Charlotte McBurney (Collaborator).
Sam Yupa Ocaña
Sam Yupa Ocaña
Sam Yupa Ocaña (he/him) is a British-Ecuadorian artist who explores breaking barriers through writing, blending both Spanish and English language to seek explorations of – but not limited to – intimacy, love and Latin American culture.
sink into skin. is an exploration of falling in love with another human being and how intimacy can bring two bodies together with tenderness, sensuality and fear of vulnerability. Two POC falling in love, and the story of how they fuse into one.
On Kaleidoscope: Sam Yupa Ocaña (Writer and Performer).
Keith Ramsay
Keith Ramsay
Keith Ramsay is a theatre-maker, cabaret artist and actor.
Madonna: Truth or Dare is a verbatim extract from Alex Keshishian’s docu-movie of the same name that chronicles Madonna’s life on her Blonde Ambition tour in 1990. By reframing the documentary’s iconic dialogue in a theatrical context, it seeks to explore Madge’s enduring resonance within the queer experience whilst considering how authenticity and performance intersect in the mythology and preservation of a legend.
Eliza Jean Scott
Eliza Jean Scott
Eliza Jean Scott is an interdisciplinary performer and theatre-maker – creating work that fuses live-looped sound, choreography, improvisation, and text, always aiming to blur the lines between disciplines in order to uncover new textures and ways of storytelling.
this offers no solutions is a surreal piece that uses stand-up comedy, live sound and dance to follow the story of an introverted IT worker whose sense of self is shattered when he encounters a glitch that he cannot rectify.
On Kaleidoscope: Eliza Jean Scott (Writer and Performer); Marshall Stay (Dramaturg); Kill Your Darlings (Collective).
Aoife Smyth
Aoife Smyth
Aoife (she/they) is a multi-hyphenate artist. An actor, writer and director to name but a few, Aoife is an artist specialising in comedy and working class drama. Founder of not for profit organisation, Proper Classy, Aoife strives for visibility and support for low socio-economic artists; and has proudly teamed up with the Almeida for this. Aoife’s aim with all work, creative or otherwise, is to express the urgent need for community, to promote class consciousness and aims for their art to act as a mirror within these increasingly dystopian times.
UNCOMMON is Aoife’s piece for Kaleidoscope.
On Kaleidoscope: Aoife Smyth (Writer and Performer).
Chen Xu
Chen Xu
Chen Xu (they/them) is an actor, multidisciplinary creator, and musician. They enjoy playing with ideas and their forms, and they often create to question the given circumstances. Their works span from interactive performance and live installation to theatre, and have been performed at Chisenhale Dance Space, National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, and Center for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow.
Imagining Cities is their first attempt in translating their lived experience of non-binariness into poetic words.
On Kaleidoscope: Chen Xu (Writer and Performer).
creative team
Producer and Co-Director – Takiyah Kamaria
Co-Director – Maxi Himpe
Sound Designer – Bryony Blackler
Sound Operator – Shane Stewart
Lighting Designer and Operator – Jocelyn Jung Fu
Access Officer – Miranda Yates
With thanks to the Almeida Technical Team, including Jason Wescombe and Robin Fisher
