Craig is proud to host Pride event at Lyth Arts Centre

Lyth Arts Centre (LAC) held the launch of its Pride season on Friday evening with a guest curator from Wick on board to programme events.

Craig Manson, who originally hails from Wick, is a performance artist and actor living in Glasgow and says he looks forward to dealing with the trials and tribulations of LAC's celebration of LGBTQ+ culture.

"Programming is something I've never done before and it's really great to learn about that," said Craig. "There's a lot of things to think about. For instance, as far as I'm aware, it's the first ever Pride season in the Caithness community.

"From my experience of growing up here, I'm thinking about the stuff that a Caithness audience would respond well to; what kinds of things need to be seen; what kind of things can people be introduced to; and how can you make events for people who aren't publicly gay, bisexual, lesbian or trans that they can participate in such as online events in which they can remain anonymous?

"It's very different from my usual line of work that I do in Glasgow but it's been lovely and quite surreal to do it."

Craig says he will be hosting events such as a cabaret called Queer Theory by Dean Cargill which is on Friday, June 16. "I've taken a step back from including myself in the programme as it just didn't feel right or appropriate. Tonight we're just having drinks and nibbles for the launch event. It's very informal for kicking it off and we have Seán Talbot’s Scintillating Self-Discovery Smut Show – a physical theatre solo performance between one man and one dildo."

Charlotte Mountford, director of LAC, is due to go on maternity leave in September and said that 2023 is shaping up to be a "really exciting year" for the arts centre. "We've got four separate themed seasons coming up and Pride is our first one," she said.

"Im absolutely delighted to be working with Craig on this. It's so good to have a 'Weeker' here for our Pride season. Visibility is really important, even for me growing up in Manchester it was important to have role models around to make you feel confident about who you are and who you want to be."

LAC board member Jennifer Davenport said she was very excited to be at the launch of the event. "It's really important, especially for very remote communities like this, that anyone who identifies as LGBTQ+ can find role models. It's hard to accept yourself if there's no-one around you to identify with."

Craig is bringing top quality queer content to the arts centre including drama workshops, theatre show S.E.X and a film screening of the achingly bittersweet Joyland.

To see the full programme of events visit: lytharts.org.uk/events/category/pride-month/list/

As part of its Pride programme, LAC encourages Caithness businesses to sign up for the Scottish LGBTI+ Rainbow Mark – for more information on this visit: www.equality-network.org/our-work/scottish-lgbti-rainbow-mark/

Local artists like Kevin Crowe and Jamie Bacon will feature alongside some of Scotland’s most renowned queer performers.

Pride month is dedicated to the celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer pride, which highlights the movement for LGBTQ+ rights and celebrates LGBTQ+ culture.

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