This week culminates in International Women’s Day on Friday 8th March and The Old Market’s Reigning Women season has never seemed so relevant. This fiery mini-season was first programmed last year to give a much needed platform to some of the most amazing women in the contemporary arts scene. Now it’s back and here to shout out loud all over again about women who aren’t afraid to put themselves centre stage, rip up all the rules and make you laugh, cry and think in the process.
Now halfway through the season, we’ve already seen plenty of highly rated shows, including Koko Brown’s White, an ‘intimate portrait of growing up mixed race in the 90s and 00s’, which received four stars from our reviewer. There was another four star review for Jessie Cave’s ‘brutally honest’ stand up show, which ‘redefines pillow talk’ and was brave enough to leave ‘no mortifying stone unturned'.
These women are undeniably in demand. Rachel Parris, star of BBC’s topical comedy show The Mash Report, has already sold out. So has Lovely Girls, the new show from home grown talent and multi award-winning comedic dance-theatre company The Hiccup Project, an ode to being a woman in the 21st Century, which closes the season. Rumour has it that tickets to rising comedic star Kiri Pritchard-McLean’s show Victim, Complex are also selling fast, so you’ll have to move quickly to see this star of Comedy Central at the Comedy Store, The Russell Howard Hour and The Now Show talk about victims, love and lies.
But don’t worry, there’s plenty you can still catch. Passionate Machine, winner of Brighton Fringe’s Best New Play Award 2018 and The Infallibles Award for Theatrical Excellence, returns to a Brighton stage on 17th March. Introduced by local short story-writer and performer James Burt, this multiple narrative story charmed hearts at last year’s Fringe and is sure to do so again this St Patrick’s Day.
For those who like to dip their toes into cinema (after all, Olivia Coleman’s Oscar winning performance of a reigning woman has been more than inspiring), there’s the Women Over 50 Film Festival, a curated collection of short films which celebrate older women on both sides of the camera, and a screening of Skate Kitchen.
Finally, there’s the Oops Festival, which has invited exceptional contemporary performance and visual artists from all over the globe for an exciting schedule of genre-defying performances across two days.
Alongside all of this there is an opportunity to buy your very own limited edition Reigning Women tote bag filled with information and goodies from brands such as Brighton Gin and Lewes Football Club Women available for a simple pay-what-you-feel donation. Sales of the tote will raise money for Brighton Women’s Centre, a local charity which has been empowering local women to face all kinds of issues, such as bereavement, trauma and abuse for over 40 years.
Brighton Women’s Centre also have their own upcoming International Women’s Day celebrations over at Brighton Dome and Brighton Museums. Their free and inclusive all-day event on Saturday 9th March welcomes everyone to join them for inspiring speakers, workshops, arts and crafts and more, with a focus on gender equality and talks featuring gold medal winning garden designer and TV presenter Juliet Sargeant and award-winning authors Juno Dawson and Tanya Byrne.
However you wish to celebrate International Women’s Day this month, you can’t go wrong by watching woman led live performances that have the potential to shock, thrill and excite you and there’s plenty to choose from during the remainder of The Old Market’s Reigning Women season that will do just that. After all, this is The Old Market's unique take on Reigning Women and there isn’t a crown or a corset in sight.
