Enjoy The Show Presents:

SCRATCH NIGHT

Tickets: https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Preston/The-Ferret/Rose-Condo-How-To-Starve-An-Artist-spoken-word/40479733/

Weds Apr 09
The Ferret, Preston

Tickets £6 from Skiddle

Come and see a diverse collection of performances, ranging from theatre and comedy, to spoken word and performance art – literally anything goes.

Scratch Nights are exciting for audiences – they get to see a number of performers and performances from different genres. Expect new work, experimental work, excerpts from longer shows.

Expect performance to be between five mines and 30mins long. Performances will be selected via a call out (deadline February 16, 2025). Expect between four and eight different pieces. Full details of the works being performed will be published after the call out deadline.

Scratch Nights offer an evening dedicated to the development of brand-new work. A chance for artists to put early ideas in front of a live audience to see what sticks. You might be seeing the early beginnings of ideas that will one day turn into fully formed shows.

These informal nights bring new live work to audiences and create a supportive platform for artists to experiment, take risks, test ideas on stage and share new work with peers and wider public. The audience will be offered the opportunity to provide feedback for the performers.

Please note earlier start time of 7.30pm.

What is a Scratch Night?

A Scratch Night is an informal event where artists, playwrights, directors and performers present works in progress, usually in front of an audience.

The ‘scratch’ term comes from the idea of showing something that’s in its early, raw, or rough stage, like a scratch of an idea, as opposed to a fully polished production.

These events are often used as a testing ground for new ideas, and they might feature short performances, excerpts from larger works, or experimental pieces.

Scratch nights are popular in theater and performance arts but can also apply to other creative fields, like dance, music, and film. The audience’s feedback can be an important part of the process, helping creators refine and develop their work further.

They are often more casual, with minimal staging and a focus on the concept or performance rather than elaborate production values.

Join Liverpool's art-house witch and drag shapeshifter Pretentious Dross for an unforgettable evening of dark and decadent cabaret-theatre.

Enjoy The Show Presents:

An Evening with Dross

Tickets:https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Preston/The-Ferret/An-Evening-with-Dross-cabaret-theatre/40509841/

Weds, Feb 12, 2025
The Ferret, Preston

8PM

Tickets £6 from Skiddle

In a world divided, what might happen when we allow ourselves to dream? This is the question at the heart of Dross' first one-queen theatrical show. 

Having cut her teeth on the cabaret circuit across the UK, developing a unique performance style that blends spectacle with deep vulnerability, Dross brings her unique show to The ferret, Preston.

What are the stories that we choose to tell to and about ourselves? How do the ghosts of the past shape our future? And how can we mould the world around us? An Evening with Dross charts a course across a constellation of contradictions - weaving a thread that is equal parts biography and fantasy. 

An Evening with Dross is a kaleidoscopic, multimedia patchwork of a life.  

“An intelligent and thoughtful reflection on LGBTQ+ identity and community. This is Queer Church!” ★★★★★ Audience review, Shakespeare North Playhouse

“Beautiful, smart and hilarious in waves” Audience review, QUARRY Liverpool. 

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Written and performed by Pretentious Dross.

Dramaturgy: Alice Holland.

With animation from Laura Spark and music from Vicemöth. 

An Evening with Dross was developed with the kind support of FACT, Bidston Artistic Research Centre and Homotopia QueerCore.

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Tickets: https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Preston/The-Ferret/An-Evening-with-Dross-cabaret-theatre/40509841/

Enjoy The Show Presents:

The NAME

OF THE DAME

Tickets: https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Preston/The-Ferret/The-Name-of-the-Dame/40437877/

Weds, Jan 08, 2025
The Ferret, Preston.

Tickets £6 from Skiddle

Name of the Dame is the fast-paced, comedy-two-hander that left audiences at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in stitches. The hour-long play is written and performed by comedians Kate McCabe and Adam Perrott.

Dames, detectives, stylish hats, ‘car chases’... this parody of the film noir genre has got a gag rate that fires faster than a Tommy-gun and is marginally less painful. If you like Airplane, the oeuvre of Mel Brooks, dicey puns and sight gags, this show is probably for you.

With entertainment as the objective, the show makes the promise that ‘You will learn nothing from this play. Nor will you experience personal growth or important revelations’.

NOTD is influenced by the likes of satirical masterpieces AIRPLANE and POLICE SQUAD. The film noir genre is firmly in the crosshairs with a gag-rate that fires faster than a Tommy Gun.

Come see the play that reviewers say ‘has broad appeal – silly, daft, hilarious, and highly entertaining’, is ‘easily the best show I’ve seen at The Fringe’ and is ‘hilarious from the first second’.

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Tickets: https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Preston/The-Ferret/The-Name-of-the-Dame/40437877/

Weds, Jan 08, 2025
The Ferret, Preston.

Lancashire Fringe: FREE performances across Lancashire!

Comedy - Theatre - Spoken Word - Dance

The s Werd - spoken word open mic night

Tues Oct 08 (7pm)

The Ferret

120mins

Age guidance: 12+

FREE show - no tickets needed

Preston's most exciting spoken word night by The S Werd returns to The Ferret as part of Lancashire Fringe Festival.

Hosted by The S Werd’s Becca Jaye.

Lancashire Fringe: FREE performances across Lancashire!

Comedy - Theatre - Spoken Word - Dance

Jo & Dave Have Moved

Mon Oct 07 (8.30pm)

The Ferret

60mins

Age guidance: 12+

FREE show - no tickets needed

‘Jo and Dave Have Moved’ is a play about change. Jo and Dave have recently relocated and down-sized, following their son going to university and Dave’s redundancy.

The new house is full of surprises and seems strangely familiar. After a series of odd events, Jo begins to research the history of the house. She is not prepared for what she discovers, when the past begins to reveal itself. It is a play about love, loss and new beginnings. 

Lancashire Fringe: FREE performances across Lancashire!

Comedy - Theatre - Spoken Word - Dance

He Said, She Said by Lydia Baines

Mon Oct 07, 2024 (7.30pm)

The Ferret

30mins

Age guidance: 

FREE show - no tickets needed

It shows the development and changes in the relationship of the two characters and the consequences of his actions. 

In the aftermath of a blurry night, Eve wakes up disoriented and half-dressed. Amidst the scattered remnants of the night before, she grapples with the unsettling gaps in her recollections, while James, with his own hidden agenda, tries to manage the situation. Tension mounts as Eve’s piecemeal revelations hint at a darker truth, leaving her to question everything, including James’ intentions.

This is Baines’ first original piece of work, having recently graduated from Preston College’s Actor Training Academy. In 2024, Baines was one of two Lancaster Playwriting Prize winners, funded by the Dukes Theatre in Lancaster and Lancaster University.

The play is part of the new commissions program for Lancashire Fringe Festival.

Lancashire Fringe: FREE performances across Lancashire!

Comedy - Theatre - Spoken Word - Dance

Henry roberts: close enough to touch 

Weds Oct 02 (7.30pm)

The Ferret

75mins

Age guidance: 16+

FREE show - no tickets needed

A funny and intimate queer one-person play exploring sexuality, shame… and toilets.

He’s lost in life. He doesn’t have a job, he doesn’t have direction… but he does have a secret. He spends his days cruising men’s toilets, finding secret pleasure with strangers. But over the course of the play, his secrets start to catch up on him, his shame builds, and the people around him start to pay the price…

Henry Roberts is a queer writer and photographer originally from Lancashire now based in London. In his work, Henry explores questions of memory, identity and intimacy in an uncertain world. He was a member of the Young Vic’s 2022 cohort of young theatre-makers. His plays have reached the final 100 submissions for the Soho Theatre’s Verity Bargate Award and have been long listed in the RSC’s 37 Plays project and by the Traverse Theatre.

Performed by Ross Barbour

Written by Henry Roberts

Directed by Lauren Tranter

Henry Roberts

Henry Roberts is a queer writer and photographer originally from Lancashire now based in London. In his work, Henry explores questions of memory, identity and intimacy in an uncertain world. He was a member of the Young Vic’s 2022 cohort of young theatre-makers. His plays have reached the final 100 submissions for the Soho Theatre’s Verity Bargate Award and have been long listed in the RSC's 37 Plays project and by the Traverse Theatre.

The Adventures of the Bearded Lady

Dream job, huge fanbase, and in a committed relationship with a beefy dancing bear. Everything was going right for the bearded lady, until her secret came out…

A coming of age fairytale about the bearded lady who ran away from the circus and embarked on a voyage transcending time, space and sex, her struggles to understand the societal limits on her gender and the eventual acceptance of herself as a woman.

Appropriating Leonardos from da Vinci to DiCaprio, a gender bending journey and joyful F*ck You to a world that asks people to hide or change who they are.

The show was first performed at Camden People's Theatre in 2018, and went on to Dumfries Big Burns Supper, Brighton fringe and a full run at the Edinburgh fringe with Gilded Balloon.

In January 2020, headhunted by producer Chris Dodd, the bearded lady travelled half way across the world for Perth fringe, performing in four venues, including her first circus tent (Casa Mondo, Yagan Square.

As well as the live show, the character’s autobiography is available to buy from all good bookshops. https://www.tdbeek.com/shop

Reviews:
‘Brilliantly understated comic with the punk spirit of the Sex Pistols’ ★★★★ The Scotsman

‘Tip top show’ Henning Wehn

‘Hilarious but equally thought-provoking, it’s funny and deep in the best combination’ The Brighton Blogger

'A real hidden gem... The writing has a fierce imagination and a very winning performance from van der Beek mixing, as it does comedy, singing and high drama’ Stephen Carlin

'At times enchanting, funny, joyous, and delightful, but there is also drama and stark tragedy – and just the right amount of bawdiness. Original and captivating, I highly recommend' Keith Prince

Ticket link: skiddle.com/e/35869334