Events

New Creative Nature Workshop for Young People (16-25) in Romford

Our work continues in Havering with Kaleidoscope, a grassroots organisation that has been working with young LGBTQ+ people in Romford since 2022. 

Often queer people have been called unnatural, but nature is filled with wonder and ambiguity. Take the most apparently basic animal, the fruit fly; researchers have found that fruit flies have metafemale, metamales and intersex gender identities, and bisexuality. One species of fungus has 23,000 genders. Gay penguins have been well documented in zoos and the wild. Starfish are asexual.

Daedalus returns to Camden People’s Theatre with QUEER REVOLUTIONARY SINGALONG featuring The Black Smock Band

Daedalus returns to Camden People’s Theatre 15 years after their acclaimed immersive documentary drama A Place at the Table, to present QUEER REVOLUTIONARY SINGALONG with ecosocialist folk band The Black Smock Band. 

Join us this April for fiery folk tunes and leftie singalong classics, from ‘Bread and Roses’ to ‘Solidarity Forever’. Bring your singing voice and your revolutionary fervour! There will also be a limited number of floor spots. If you have a song that fits the vibe, and you’d like to share it, get in touch with the band via this link.

Artist Spotlight: Marshall Savage

Photo of Marshall Savage at Kobi Nazrul Centre (2025)

Marshall Savage, also known as Mijan, is a Bangladeshi-British queer person from Bow. Marshall is passionate about LGBTQ+ rights and welfare not warfare. Marshall doesn’t come from a creative or academic background, but he loves learning new skills and embracing new experiences wherever they lead him. He is the newest member of our East Storytelling Project. 

After a late evening of rehearsals for our latest East production EAST TO ELSEWHERE, local trade unionist Marshall and assistant producer Tasnim sat at Chaiwalla on Brick Lane with a coffee and roti to talk about the East End, activism and the importance of sharing stories of migrant women. 


Tell us about yourself.

My name is Marshall, I’m born and raised in Tower Hamlets, in Bow specifically. I work for Tower Hamlets and I’m also a Trade unionist. I’m very heavily involved in activism, especially local activism and organising against the far right 

Call for Emerging Bengali Storytellers: East to Elsewhere on the theme of KINDNESS

Photo by Rehan Jamil


Do you have a story to tell about kindness? We’re looking for Bengali storytellers from Tower Hamlets. If you have a story about acts of kindness, migration or how Tower Hamlets has shaped your life, we want to hear from you! This callout is for people with little or no professional experience in storytelling.

About the Project: We’re thrilled to announce East to Elsewhere, a new storytelling event celebrating the theme of Kindness from the EAST Project. This project will explore the rich history and diverse cultures of Tower Hamlets through stories of migration, community support, and kindness—especially stories of kindness shown by migrant communities to newcomers such as refugees and asylum seekers.

The kind of thing that we are looking for:

Mobile Incitement returns!

When the pandemic struck in 2020 we had a tour arranged for our gig-theatre piece Gerrard Winstanley’s True and Righteous Mobile Incitement Unit, and were in the middle of fundraising. That tour didn’t happen, obviously, but five years later one of the venues has invited us to perform. It will be part of a season of performances, talks and other events looking at the theme of protest and Exeter’s role in the Civil War period. The venue is St Nicholas Priory, a fantastic mediaeval building in the heart of Exeter. We will be working with local historians and performers to create a really special version of the show.

Announcing New Daedalus Production and New Partnership at Exciting Queer Festival in South London!

After two R&D phases and more than two years in development, we’re finally ready to share Dysbiosis, our latest theatre project — and we’re doing it as part of the 96 Festival on its tenth anniversary.

We’re thrilled to bring this work-in-progress performance and exhibition to Omnibus Theatre in Clapham, South London, marking an exciting moment for Daedalus as we step outside our usual East London base to join this landmark festival in a vibrant new context.

Dysbiosis is a queer-led, multimedia performance that unearths the tangled connections between queerness, place, nature and environmental justice. Developed through collaboration with working class, global majority and LGBTQ+ Londoners, it weaves together original music, spoken word, performance and visual storytelling to explore how we live in and with the natural world.

Call for Storytellers: Tales of Tower Hamlets on the theme of KINDNESS

Do you have a story to tell about kindness in Tower Hamlets? We’re looking for storytellers with Caribbean, Somali, or/and West African heritage. If you have a story about acts of kindness, migration, or how Tower Hamlets has shaped your life, we want to hear from you!


About the Project: We’re thrilled to announce Tales of Tower Hamlets, a new storytelling event celebrating the theme of Kindness from the EAST Project. This project will explore the rich history and diverse cultures of Tower Hamlets through stories of migration, community support, and kindness—especially stories of kindness shown by migrant communities to newcomers such as refugees and asylum seekers.

What We’re Looking For:

  • Stories about acts of kindness within migrant communities in Tower Hamlets.
  • Experiences of newcomers, especially refugees and asylum seekers.
  • Historical migration stories linked to East London.
  • Contemporary stories about migration today.
  • Personal stories—if you feel like sharing!
  • Stories that reflect the awesome diversity of East London and Tower Hamlets.

Eligibility:

Mud Stories at the Rum Factory

We’ll be at The Old Rum Factory Festival, at Bow Arts’s Wapping studios, this Saturday, 17th August, with Mud Stories – a performance of stories and music from banks of the Thames.

Come down to the River Thames at low tide and join the mudlarks’ hunt for some very valuable objects that will tell us something unique about London’s history. But there is so much here, how do we know where to look? All we can see are mud, shells, stones, and rubbish! Maybe we can ask someone for help? Who’s this?

Here to guide us are East lead artists Shamim Azad and Sef Townsend, Daedalus assistant producer/director Tasnim Siddiqa Amin and Daedalus director/musician Paul Burgess.

Suitable for all ages but recommended ages 8+, it can be seen at 2pm and 4pm. And it’s free!

The Old Rum Factory Festival is centred on open studios, so you can see the work of the many incredible artists who are based there. But there’s lots else to see as well, including a whole programme of workshops. You can get all the details here.

We’ll leave you with a snap from rehearsals. Hope to see you there!

Dysbiosis: Creative Nature Exhibition

“Such beautiful conversations, and lasting connections made” – Exhibition Launch Attendee

Last month we launched the DYSBIOSIS: CREATIVE NATURE EXHIBITION in Rainham. Over four workshops, Rainham and Wennington locals of all ages came together to observe the nature around us and express their thoughts creatively and together. A selection of these artworks are now available to view as you ascend the stairs at the Royals Youth Centre.

Here is an extract of a poem written by Wennington resident and Change Maker Laurence:

Call Out for East Music 2

Musicians! You’re invited to East Music: Song and Tune Exchange Session at Poplar Union on Saturday 6 July

Reserve your free space here

After an incredible pilot session, we are thrilled to be back at Poplar Union for a Summer Edition this July. 

Bring your instruments and voices along with songs or tunes from across the world to play, sing and share. There may be an opportunity to play to a live audience later in the evening.

This is a free, friendly and inclusive session for players of all levels of experience. Global Majority* and LGBTQ+ music makers are particularly welcome. The session will be led by one of our East musicians.

Date: Saturday 6th July 2024

Time: 4-6.30PM

Duration: 2.5 hours including a 30 minute break

Location: Poplar Union

Ages: 18+