Discovery by Emmy Clarke, dir. Barry Fitzgerald, UK 2021, 3min., English with English subtitles

Performed by Lua Bairstow
Produced by Char Boden
Music composed by Shiloh Coke
Edited by Cecil Fenn


No Mum by Victor Tindle, dir. Yaz Zadeh, UK 2021, 3min., English with English subtitles

Performed by Charlie Josephine
Produced by Char Boden
Music composed by Shiloh Coke
Edited by Cecil Fenn


Small Utopia by Chase Waterman, dir. Mika Onyx Johnson, UK 2021, 3min., English with English subtitles

Performed by A. de Castro
Produced by Char Boden
Music composed by Shiloh Coke
Edited by Cecil Fenn

Imagine a moment, now imagine it BRIGHTER

BRIGHTER is a free writing-for-performance project worked in collaboration with LGBTQIA+ groups in the UK.

The project started as a set of 12 writing tasks, accessed by a website, SoundCloud or a resource pack, with an aim to inspire and activate writing for performance. 

Outbox worked with groups to guide them through the tasks and help facilitate the writing. The BRIGHTER website was also promoted on our social media- anyone could join in and share their voice.

Writing sumbitted was published online and in print as the BRIGHTER booklet, a collection of writing that re-affirms, delights, disrupts, inspires action, and reaches towards a queer utopia.

When the world felt like it was shutting down in 2020, BRIGHTER helped us to keep connecting with LGBTQIA+ people. The collection gives a glimpse of the artistry and creativity to be found within our communities.

The writing that we received was so powerful that we wanted to platform it further. As we came out of lockdown in 2021, our associate artists made 4 short films based upon the writing submitted (click on titles to watch films);

Anti-Metropolis by Tallulah Howarth, dir. mandla rae

Discovery by Emmy Clarke, dir. Barry Fitzgerald

No Mum by Victor Tindle, dir. Yaz Zadeh

Small Utopia by Chase Waterman, dir. Mika Onyx Johnson

These films present themes of queer utopias, discovery of identity, surrealism, beauty, love, dancing, and inhabiting our queer bodies with truth and power.


With special thanks to the amazing groups that we worked with across the UK:
Leicester LGBT Centre, LGBT Foundation, Micro Rainbow, OutBurst, The Proud Trust, SAYiT, Say It Loud Club and Step Out.

BRIGHTER was developed and delivered by Outbox associate artists Barry Fitzgerald, Mika Onyx Johnson, mandla rae and produced by Char Boden.

Supported by:
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
The Big Lottery Community Fund