NEW QUEERS on the Block is a fresh night of innovative performance to Bradford on October 10.

The presentation showcases international LGBTQ+ work from Rachael Young, Hester Chillingworth, Stacy Makishi & Marikiscrycrycry, with host Ophelia Bitz.

Each venue features a specially-commissioned local artist from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/Transsexual, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual/Allies community.

The show’s promoters said the show featured material that would appeal to mainstream audiences – from older teenagers to adults – as well as the LGBTQ+ community.

A spokesman said: “Expect short, punchy performances with themes such as a queer black woman channelling the power of Grace Jones, memories of a queer childhood, reclaiming your faith with pop music, and black melancholia through the legacy of Tupac.

“New Queers on the Block sees artists engaging with local audiences via a Local Ambassadors Programme especially designed to reach out to those who don’t attend theatre shows on a regular basis.”

Choreographer and dancer Marikiscrycrycry, alias Malik Nashad Sharpe, currently artist-in-residence at Tate Britain, will present He’s Dead. The assemblage of images and tableaus explores black issues using contemporary and historic references.

Rachael Young and her “badass band of super-humans” embrace Afrofuturism and the cult of Grace Jones in Nightclubbing, described as explosive performance bringing visceral live music and intergalactic visions to start a revolution.

Twin Peaks meets Gardeners World as Stacy Makishi presents Bonsai Bites, a post-apocalyptic cryptic cocktail blending poetry with polymorphic perverse cabaret.

Hester Chillingworth performs Shorty, portraying a deconstructed drag-child who frays and plays at the edges. This solo show looks at the position of the non-binary child and the relationship with the mind when the body is under attack, championing the not-quite, the slight and the awkward.

Neo-cabaret and performance artist Ophelia Bitz has toured internationally for 11 years as a compere, collaborating with Derren Brown, The Tiger Lillies, Tim Burton and Mika.

New Queers on the Block will be performed on October 10 at 7.30pm at the Theatre in the Mill, University of Bradford.

Visit or brad.ac.uk/theatre call 01274 233200 to book tickets.