QUEER DARLINGTON
OPENING CLOSET DOORS
WHAT'S IN A NAME
QUESTIONING THE WORDS AND LABELS WE USE.
Opening Closet doors is a project lead by Sarah Li and supported by Darlington Creative and the Hippodrome to share stories and voices of local Queer people, and consider the Queer performance heritage of the area.
Lizzie wrote and performed a range of poems while at Darlington Hippodrome and the filmed content is part of the full film Opening Closet Doors, which was shown as part of Darlington Pride 2022.
The poems focus on Closeted Queer Communication, using Broccoli, Lavender and Brownies to secrertly share your sexuality.
FEARLESS
Filmed and Directed by Sarah Li
Written and Performed by Lizzie Lovejoy
There's a woman who lives on the corner of my street
She never found a person that she couldn't defeat
with the glint in her eye
try
as they might
no one could fight
the woman who owns herself.
She walks in a way that is regal,
sight as sharp as an eagle.
As she surveys each scene
she is Queen
of the space she inhabits,
the rest of us just rabbits
in the headlights of her vision.
And what incredible precision
she masters with her words…
it is as though I've never heard
anyone else talk this way before.
Stood at her door,
dressed in a ball gown
ready to go into the town
for broccoli and bread.
My grandma goes red
to see her…
She cannot imagine,
no part of her can fathom
the power of being herself.
