Hey!
I always find writing introductions and bios painstakingly hard. It’s getting that balance of bigging yourself up but also not sounding like a twat and on top of that making the bio/introduction interesting to read. I’ve decided to cut to the chase, here are two things that you need to know about me; my name is Masha Kevinovna and I’m the writer/ director of The Girl With Glitter In Her Eye.
The Girl With Glitter In Her Eye is a show for anyone who has experienced complicated friendships, in particular female friendships. Friendships are beautiful, grounding and fragile. This show looks at the friendship between two women, Helen & Phil. Upon the revelation of Phil’s trauma, Helen spots an opportunity to be heard, to make a difference. We ask whether it’s possible to tell someone else’s story without silencing them along the way?
It’s a cross arts piece of theatre created by an explosive collaboration of female and LGBTQIA+ artists fusing spoken word, original composition and insane performances. As the founder of OPIA Collective, my aim is to create multidisciplinary work that brings a true and authentic representation of the female & LGBTQ experience. It is so important to tackle the erasure of queer female voices so we have created this show to encourage female and LGBT performers to take up space in theatre and to engage female & LGBT audiences by presenting a world that reflects their own.
In 2018, I previewed a sharing of the show at Theatre Royal Stratford East. We developed the show at scratch nights and work-in-progress sharings at the Lyric Hammersmith, Battersea Arts Centre & Omnibus Theatre. In March we did an intensive R&D at the Albany, supported by Arts Council of England and gained attention from the amazing Bunker Theatre where we have been programmed to perform in January 2020 as part of the Spring ‘B-Sides’ Season!
Now making theatre ain’t cheap, especially if you’re like me and have to consider whether you can actually afford a meal deal from Tesco, Sainsburys or Boots if you’re feeling elite. We’ve been given this opportunity to do a full professional run and we want to do it right. This means getting a full team of incredible creatives on board, marketing the show properly and making sure everyone gets PAID (and can afford a meal deal)… which is where you come in.
“OPIA Collective have created one of the most cohesive pieces of theatre I’ve seen, beautifully brought to life by the incredible people on stage. Such a meaningful message as well, this is what inclusivity looks like. The lived experiences from people in LGBTQ+ community, shared stories of pain and triumph that rang deep” – Plays 4 POC.
‘We were pleased to support OPIA Collective’s R&D of The Girl With Glitter In Her Eye in early 2019. The work is bold, inventive, refreshing and makes a statement, and we’re excited to see where this young company will take their ideas in the years to come. The Girl With Glitter In Her Eye tackles a difficult subject with a fresh, thoughtful and impactful approach. ‘ – Linda Bloomfield, Creatives Programme Manager, The Albany
‘Masha is an emerging auteur with a distinctive approach that takes in writing, movement, music and visual art. Her pan-disciplinary creativity and will to realise her vision blows me away. The industry needs her and she deserves all the support you can give.’ – Eve Leigh, Playwright & Theatremaker.
HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT US
We’ve managed to raise £10,000 through Arts Council England Funding, Charitable Trusts and Fundraising Events but we still need about £2000 for the performances to go ahead.
Your support is the final push in getting The Girl With Glitter In Her Eye to the Bunker! Every penny makes a huge difference:
£1 – pays for a bottle of glitter (the title role)
£5 – pays for our snazzy hand held torches used in the play. It’s going to be lit.
£20 – pays for the online promotional posts on social media so you guys can find about what we’re doing
£50 – pays for a videographer to record the show for the OPIA archives.
£100 – covers our marketing costs so we can pack out the venue each night and play to a full house!
£200 – Materials to make our epic set. We have a vision but we need raw materials in order to realise this!
£300 – Allows us to work with an incredible Movement Director, Ann Akin, who has worked with us on all previous OPIA shows and we’d love to continue doing so!
£1000 – Covers half of the fee for either the Producer or Director. It would be lush to pay ourselves for once
Check out what our audience have said about the show:
Our budget covers all fees for our insane cast and creative fees, set, design, videography, photography, costume etc.
This opportunity is a MASSIVE step for us not just as individuals but as OPIA Collective. Not only are we pushing ourselves creatively but we hope this platform will allow us to engage with new audiences, queer women who need to hear this story, but also non-traditional theatre goers too! We want to bring awareness to the issue of sexual violence, its lasting effect and minority voices that are often silenced.
In exchange for your generosity, we’ve lined up some badass rewards available including groovy OPIA badges, workshops, discounted tickets to our show and personalised poetry by the sublime oakley flanagan, one of very own OPIA artists.
Anything you can give will really help and we will keep you updated with all the exciting things we will do!
Big love, Masha xox
TGWGIHE TEAM IS:
Cast: Modupe Salu, Naomi Gardener, Anna Mackay
Creatives:
Masha Kevinovna – Director/Writer
Nikita Karia – Producer
Ben Ramsden – Composer
Oakley Flanagan – Dramaturg
Josie Kyan – Assistant Director & Visual Artist
Cara Evans – Set & Costume Designer
Ann Akin – Movement Director
This is a story about queer female women, a topic/narrative which historically has not been given space in theatre. Currently there is a new wave of artistic directors and programmers who are fighting to give space to these women and we are lucky enough to be part of this movement. That is why its so important for this show to happen NOW while we are riding the wave of BOLD QUEER FEMALE STORIES. The show’s themes delve into consent and removal of voice which are especially pertinent. Sexual violence is a global epidemic that is all around us – it permeates every facet of our presence in the world, echoing throughout our political and popular cultures, ricocheting off the cement walls that define our boundaries. The show is potentially triggering but we have partnered up with a charity to raise money and provide support for women & humans that identify as LGBT who’ve experienced sexual violence. The more money we raise, the more autonomy we will have over our project and more control we have over the representation of our community and our narratives. It also means we will have more opportunities to share the story and perform all over the country as we intend to without relying on inaccessible funding. It means we will NOT have to rely on ticket sales to pay anyone involved in the show. The Girl With Glitter In Her Her Eye is a risk? Yes. Ambitious? Yes. Important? Yes.