Lumiscent Passive Aggressive Ghosts

As we move between Nebula I & II

Nebula

a vast, interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium, and other ionized gases scattered throughout space, often acting as stellar nurseries where new stars are born. (National Space Centre)

A new star emerged on Tuesday 24 March 2026. Or, rather, a small number of them. Also, they had been steadily making their presence known for the last couple of months, until the optimum time to spread their glittery magic across the horizon (and I’m not just referring to myself here…) to all who were willing to pre-register for free tickets and gaze upon them.

My friend and co-co-producer Soup and I have had Nebula in the planning since autumn, but the desire for a LGBTQ+-led variety/performance space has been a few years in the making. We were both blessed with the opportunity to perform at Jan Balagtas’ Bellmaker events. I first got involved with Bellmaker in 2023, performing at their regular Bethnal Green show on the day the US women’s national team were knocked out of the World Cup on penalties by Sweden. One of the bar staff was wearing a Seattle Sounders shirt, giving me the opportunity to express my recently acquired love of the city’s woso side, the Reign. The show itself brought us a mix of music, spoken word, drag, storytelling and theatre. The performers got a small cut of takings (barely enough to cover my train fare, but hey…). By a small twist of chance, my favourite vegan cafe in Bedford, the marvellous Green Earth, liked my Instagram post sharing info about the event. This, in turn, caught the eye of Bellmaker, and before we knew it, the worlds of independent plant-based eateries and queer cabaret had merged, and a little over a month later, the Green Earth variety night (hosted by Bellmaker) was born. The opening event brought a spike in interest, perhaps somewhat overcrowding the venue, but bumz-on-seats is bumz-on-seats. By this point, my live setup had switched from me switching between acoustic singer-songwritery and spoken-word, to composing electronic loops and beats to play back over my words and chanteusery. My nerves, with the added pressure of being the link that brought Bellmaker up the Thameslink (or Midland mainline if we’re going semi-fast) to town, perhaps impacted my performance, but, in the spirit of emergence, my neuroqueer/community number “Seven Sisters” dipped its toe in the crowd-pleasing water, had a paddle, and now regularly turns up, dry-robed, with a fancy picnic. Soup shared a hybrid piece of clowning, lip-sync and ballet. My friend, the powerful poet KT O’Pray, shared some extracts from their collection Apricot.

A few more Bellmaker nights graced Bedford between winter 2023 and summer 2024. Rainbow Bedfordshire, the marvellous community organisation that has aided my connections and sparked new friendships, benefited from a percentage of sales from pay-what-you-can tickets. Bellmaker Jan reprised their hosting roles at Rainbow’s ‘A Pride for Everyone’ event in September 2024 in Bedford. Alas, when Bellmaker took a step back from taking their travelling cabaret on tour, the hunger for a regular local LGBTQ+ performance network further compelled us to take matters in our own hands.

You might question why it has taken me nearly two months to review, reflect or recognise the achievement of producing the first Nebula variety night, the sheer hard work put in by performers, volunteers, audience - and, of course, our esteemed venue the Barley Mow - alike.

Did I not feel like shouting from the roof tops and celebrating its success?

Did I not appreciate the phenomenal effort and attainment by all involved?

Did I not want to capitalise on the optimum digital engagement window?

Is that even a thing?…

The truth of the matter is that I, like many involved in the birth and growth of Nebula, do things a little differently. Sometimes by choice. I’d love to say that I have intentionally picked the equitemporal mid point between our first Nebula night in March, and the next one at the end of July. To be honest, though, I have struggled for words to shine a light on the magic of the night. From Ginger’s all-encompassing greeting to the audience and Soup’s spiritual successor to Swan Lake to the raw power of KT O’Pray’s poetry, Mathilda’s funny and thought-provoking short film The Mathematics of Understanding, and Boxship playing their actual first gig (and managing to nab a new drummer in the process!!), we weren’t exaggerating when we told you we were offering variety!

Speaking of variety, I played it with relatively safe with my choice of songs and poems to follow Ginger’s introductory number. Wall-to-wall hitz (I mean…my friends sang ‘Seven Sisters’ back at me, so…). There’ll be plenty of pieces for me to work through, especially with Bedfringe coming up, within the seven days immediately preceding Nebula II (stay tuned for more unabashed self-promotion on that score).

Photo by Quilia on Unsplash

We’re on to something though, aren’t we, ladz? Why put shows on? Why share your gifts? Why part with currency in these troubled times to bask in the daftness of it all? Because art is a powerful tool to connect us, to make us feel part of something. And at Nebula we are growing a family of sorts. It’s not just about these variety nights, but equally about bringing existing and prospective creators, artists, performers, whether they produce music, visual art, film, theatre, comedy, clowning, drag or whatever helps them create that spark and hit that sweet spot of making connections, finding hearts and minds, and plugging skills gaps while we’re at it.

And so, between two calendar dates within linear time (ladz, we can’t all just pick and choose where and when we transport ourselves!), equidistant constellations pass the baton from one to the other. It’s almost time for Nebula II (working title, Roman numerals probably not entirely necessary, even if the entertainment industry is still heavily influenced by the alumni of schools that offered Latin as a subject) to welcome you all in.

The next Nebula variety night takes place Tuesday 28 July from 7pm at the Barley Mow, Bedford MK40 1EZ. If you are a prospective performer and are keen to be involved on this or future nights (or indeed, be part of our growing network of connected artists), you can register interest on the attached form (no paper required!)

Ticket info will be released soon, and will be found on Rainbow Bedfordshire’s website as well as on Nebula’s social media links.

We hope to continue to share the magic with you.

Until we’re all mathematically safe…

Sparky x