Outburst Queer Arts Festival 2016 - theatre, talk and film (until 19 Nov)

Every year Outburst Queer Arts Festival throws up some surprises. 2014’s play Damage by Patrick J O’Reilly still rattles around my brain. This preview is finally being posted mid way through their tenth festival which runs until 19 November and has a theme of ‘Home’.

Other People – Tuesday 15 November at 8.30pm in Queen’s Film Theatre – Chris Kelly’s film based on his own experience sees comedy writer David (played by Jesse Plemons) who returns home to care for his mother. His conservative father refuses to acknowledge his sexuality, leaving David a stranger in his childhood home.

Luck Just Kissed You Hello – Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 November in Lyric Theatre – Another coming home performance. Change is all around. Leaving home as Laura, but returning as Mark for the imminent death of his father. Sitting in the shadow of his hospital bed, two siblings remember their father’s looming presence in their childhood. But their memory is challenged by a friend who has a different impression of what was happening.

There’s a Bishop in my Bedroom – Wednesday 16 November at 7.30pm in The Barracks – If the quality of Richard O’Leary’s renditions at Tenx9 is anything to go by, his storytelling about sex education in a Catholic secondary school in 1970s Cork and falling in love with a Bishop in 1990s Belfast is sure to engage and challenge.

Multiple Maniacs – Friday 18 November at 9.30pm in Queen’s Film Theatre – While the main John Waters event has long since sold out, a restored print of what’s described as his “most outrageous and transgressive film” is being given a rare screening. A treat for fans of Waters, though probably quite shocking for everyone else!

Shoot the Sissy – Saturday 19 November at 4pm in Black Box – Performance artist Nando Messias responds to the shootings in Orlando and asks “Do queer lives matter?” in this “beautiful freak show … of carnivalesque contortion and florid fantasy”.

Full programme on the Outburst Arts website.