Large numbers of defecting Labour voters have given the Green Party confidence they will win the Herne Hill by-election on 1 May.

After defeating Labour in the St Ann’s (Haringey) by-election on 10 April, the party is backing Paul Valentine, an actor who has featured in HBO’s House of the Dragon television show, to close the 504-vote gap from the last election and defeat Labour candidate Stephen Clark.

The Herne Hill and Loughborough Junction election was called after Labour councillor Jim Dickson, who served on the council for more than 20 years, resigned from his position eight months after being elected MP for Dartford.

Valentine said: “Every time that a Green has been elected, they have demonstrated that they’re there for the long haul and there to work hard, which is what I want to try and do in this ward as well.

“Jim Dickson beat a Conservative to Dartford, and congratulations to him, but really you should then stand down [as a councillor].

“We’ve been a ward – a big one, with an 11,000 electorate, long and winding – a three-councillor ward, functioning with only two councillors.

“I just don’t think that’s morally right. I want to live in an area that has three councillors out of three working for the area.”

Valentine, who is running for the second time after losing out to Labour in 2022, is campaigning on a platform of protecting public spaces, improving housing, ensuring council ability on spending, and cleaning up the streets.

Protecting Carnegie Library and Brockwell Park have become especially important issues in this by-election, with petitions currently gathering steam to stop funding cuts to the library and to respond to concerns surrounding Brockwell Live music festival and its impact on the park and surrounding community.

The election – which is also contested by Local Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, Reform UK, and others – will choose one candidate to the 63-seat Lambeth council, of which Labour currently hold 57.

A Lambeth Labour spokesperson said of their candidate Stephen Clark: “Stephen has a strong track record of standing up for local residents, successfully campaigning for a new lease at the Carnegie Library Hub.

“Over the past year, he has been out listening to residents and championing the issues that matter most.”

Clark is campaigning with the promise of prioritising better local housing, cleaner and safer streets, and improved accessibility at Loughborough Junction Station. 

Meanwhile, Cllr Ruairidh Paton, who won the St Ann’s by-election for the Greens, said of his victory: “We spoke to more than 2000 residents and we heard the same story time and again.

“People are struggling with bills, soaring rent and food prices, and feel abandoned by politicians who don’t care about them.”

Paton won 55% of the vote, with 1,059 votes, nearly double Labour’s total, and with a margin of victory equalled only once in the 23-year history of the ward.

Reacting to Paton’s election success, Valentine said: “They ran their campaign so well and they really did in Haringey what I’ve been trying to do here as well: just speaking to people.

“People in Haringey felt like they weren’t being listened to, and it’s the same here.”

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A new free women’s coding club launched in Lambeth earlier this month aims to create tech opportunities for women.

Running weekly on Saturdays, this club is just one of many initiatives run by Millennium Community Solutions (MCS) teaching valuable tech skills to those who want to learn, giving access to the right tools and helping build a more inclusive future. 

Initially founded in 2021 by Rev. Gail Thompson, MCS provides free coding workshops and digital assistive technology to individuals of all ages and abilities. 

She said: “It doesn’t just start with the workshop itself or the subject matter.

“It also starts with access to the venue. We also take into people with disabilities and the elderly. 

“We have a lot of assistive technology such as tech to help people who have visual problems, and we make sure we have track pads.

“So we cater for everybody.” 

MCS teaches programming languages like Scratch and Python which are accessible and widely used in the data science, machine learning, and game development fields. 

STEM Women research shows that representation of women in STEM remains low, at just one quarter of the overall workforce, and at the current rate of change, equal representation in STEM won’t occur until the year 2070.

MCS is almost entirely volunteer-led, with only coding tutors paid for their time. 

Rev. Thompson added: “Millennium runs on ion and doesn’t run on money. 

“Most people involved are there because they want to be.

“None of us get paid, but we don’t want to. We do it because it needs doing.” 

There is huge demand for MCS courses and with funding from Lambeth’s Changing Lives Fund, they employ five attendees at the end of their 14-week and 40-week courses. 

Their mission is not just in teaching coding but creating opportunities and careers for women. 

Organisations like MCS are integral to tackling the gender gap in technology on a community level, with Women in Tech data showing that 90% believe it would benefit the technology sector to have a more gender equal workforce.

Lucy Gore was inspired to learn code by a friend and in 2019 founded Kozi Course, a residential coding course, after being frustrated by the restrictive stereotypes accompanying STEM careers.  

Gore said: “I did linguistics and humanities at school, and really enjoyed those subjects, but I wasn’t ever taught that coding could be creative or linguistic in the way that I think it is.

“One of the things that’s really damaging is it’s seen as nerdy and lame. 

“The reality is that these people – coders and developers – are ruling the world. 

“They are the people that are going to be in charge of all of our livelihoods.” 

She added that although she doesn’t work full-time as a software engineer now, she wouldn’t be where she is if she hadn’t gone down the engineering route. 

Kozi Course created meaningful opportunities for those that attended, with four now in full time employment and six who interned at digital tech companies within software development teams. 

Gore is proud of the course for opening up the world of STEM to people who didn’t fit the mathematics stereotype. 

London-based web developer Leo Gilmour faced challenges pursuing a career in tech as a woman. 

This isn’t abnormal, with a Women in Tech survey showing that 76% of women working in technology have experienced gender bias or discrimination in the workplace. 

Gilmour recalled the sexism she faced at university fairs, conferences and in an early job interview. 

She said: “I went to the computer science open day at Oxford when I was looking for what to study, and I was the only girl in the whole room.

“All the other kids stared at me with a sort of disbelief and fascination.” 

She was put off by this experience and applied for engineering instead, eventually dropping out and teaching herself to code.  

She said: “I’m sure there are lots of women and girls who decide maths, science and computing aren’t for them because they think those subjects can’t be for them.”

Despite these hurdles, she emphasised the importance of community initiatives like the Lambeth women’s coding club and Code First Girls, which provide accessible paths for women and girls to learn coding.

She added: “It’s so important to fill the gap, because we live in a society where if you don’t take the right A-Levels, we’re led to believe that a particular door is closed forever, but that ultimately just isn’t the case. 

“You don’t need any special, prerequisite skills to learn how to code.

“It relies on an innate human understanding of logic.”

Featured image credit: Christina Morillo via Pexels.

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South London residents and LGBTQ+ spaces showed for the trans community in the wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling at a Parliament Square protest.

The court’s 16 April ruling the ‘man’, ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ under the Equality Act 2010 are defined as a person’s biological sex led to concerns transgender men and women will be forced to use lavatorial and other facilities which align with that.

Londoners ed the thousands-strong demonstration organised by trans activist groups to protest against the court’s decision three days later, and urge others to stand with the trans community.

Brixton resident Martin said: “I think the police were shocked at the popularity of the demonstration, which is great.

“It was a super joyful but angry mood, and I think it was affirming to know that it is a tiny but powerful cabal that’s transphobic, and the public is with us.

“I am not so hopefully about a positive change to the law for trans people, but we will keep pressuring this government.”

South west London has long been at the forefront of London’s LGBTQ+ scene, boasting popular spaces, events and offering a welcoming space for the whole spectrum of the community.

While many organisations have expressed their , the real-life impact of the ruling is still to be felt.

Clapham‘s LGBTQ+ bars, pubs and prominent figures were among those which took to social media in of trans patrons, reaffirming a commitment to provide safe and inclusive spaces.

A major concern for LGBTQ+ people when attending entertainment venues in relation to the ruling is around the use of toilets, and the that non-gender-conforming patrons would be confronted when trying to use their preferred facility.

The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, a long standing staple of LGBTQ+ nightlife in Vauxhall, posted: “We stand proud, tall and united with you as we continue the fight for acceptance, respect and the chance to live and thrive as our own true selves.”

The RVT hosts a multitude of LQBTQ+ events throughout the year, with popular drag artist Myra Dubois among those to perform there.

Dubois said: “At my show we don’t laugh at anyone, we laugh together at ourselves because life is beautiful and stupid and we’re equal in our ridiculousness.

“LGB and especially T people are very welcome at my shows, bigots with hate in their hearts are not.”

Featured image: Benji Stephenson

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The Guest at the Omnibus Theatre in Clapham is a cyclical meditation on migration and the climate crisis, set in a near-future reality where rising temperatures force people to flock northwards.

The play centres around a ‘Groundhog Day’ style scene in the garden of Joe, played by Graham Turner and Ricky, played by Stephanie Jacob, who is also the show’s writer. The chemistry between the pair was warm and believable, and bore all the markings of a long-suffering yet tender relationship. 

As the two bicker amicably, finish one another’s sentences, and complain about the scorching hot temperatures, Hannah (Erica Tavares-Kouassi) enters the scene, with broken English and a need for help.

Jacob’s writing is wonderfully inventive, reimagining the myriad outcomes that could arise from the slightest increase in paranoia, benevolence, or rage. Turner came into his own as Joe in the more imioned moments, spiralling quickly to a level of possessiveness and nationalism which has become all-too recognisable in the era of Reform. 

For Jacob, the structure preceded the story, as she had previously used the repeated scene device in a play at Trafalgar Studios.

She said in an interview before the show: “It’s like our lives really: we wake up each morning and lots of days are pretty much like yesterday, with the same shape but slightly different, and our experience slowly accumulates.

“I thought there’s a sort of bigger story here that could be more about politics or world events.”

She workshopped a number of scenes last year along with dramaturg and director, Lucy Richardson, and consulted migrant charity groups as part of her research.

The repeated scenes are bookended with monologues from Hannah detailing life in migrant hotels, the discrimination her child faces in school, and her history of domestic abuse and debt. For me, these monologues were a real highlight of the show, with Tavares-Kouassi giving a true tour-de-force, and depicting the full spectrum of human experience with breathtaking versatility. 

Her Hannah was incredibly likeable and resilient, whilst also suffering from pride and a mercurial quickness to anger not unlike that of Joe. 

Tavares-Kouassi said: “There is no black and white in the sense of ‘this character’s bad’, ‘this character’s good’.

“It’s definitely important for theatre to just go, ‘this is a mirror. Have a look at yourselves. Do you like what you see? If not, what can we do about it? How can we change?’

“It’s a motive for change.”

For me, the play certainly succeeded in provoking these kinds of reflections. It trod the line wonderfully of balancing the needs of the incoming migrant with those of the rooted couple, treating the concerns of both with great consideration and nuance. 

Jacob has described the play as being a ‘serious comedy’, in part, she said, because she thought punters may be put off by the assumption that it would be a mentally and emotionally draining play, given the topic of migration. 

I thought the more humorous moments were handled with great levity, and, as Jacob says, they are a welcome relief to the audience, contrasting against the more uncomfortable moments, such as the excruciating scene involving a sanitary towel, where the discomfort was maximised to its full extent.

As may be expected of a play of this nature, I found the structuring did cause a little dragging in the middle, and perhaps could have done with the removal of some more inconsequential scenarios, but the ending provided the perfect balance of closure and questions, and rounded off the cyclicality in a highly satisfying way.

The Guest is thought-provoking and ominous with a real standout performance from Tavares-Kouassi in the titular role.

Jacob said: “Comedy means hope, and for me it’s a hopeful play because they constantly, in almost all the what ifs, find some moment of connection. And when you connect with people, you your best self.”

THE GUEST – Omnibus Theatre

Picture credit: Héctor Manchego

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The founder of a boxing initiative for children and adults with autism has been shortlisted for Volunteer of the Year at the annual Lambeth Civic Awards.

Mark Chilvers, 56, has been running the ‘Boxing for Autism‘ scheme for three years at Miguel’s Gym, in collaboration with boxing coach Keshia Simms.

He first set up the classes after seeing Miguel’s training in the park during the pandemic whilst out with his son, now 15, who is autistic.

He said: “The idea of being picked out makes me feel a little shy about it if I’m honest, but it’s nice to have received that pat on the back and recognition.”

Chilvers first proposed the scheme to the Lambeth division of the National Autistic Society (NAS), in which he is a committee member, as a worthy use of funds leftover during Covid. 

He collaborated with Simms, whose mother had previously fostered many children including one autistic girl, and was therefore familiar with how autism presents.

Their first classes were attended by around half a dozen children, but demand has grown over the past three years, and, thanks to a grant from Lambeth Council’s ‘Changing Lives’ social value fund, Boxing for Autism has been able to hold a second class on Sunday mornings for teenagers and adults. 

The organisers have put together a circuit class involving boxing combinations with punching bags, races, and floorwork. 

They have adapted the gym to the participants’ needs by switching off the music and beeping timer, and creating a large visual timetable of the session so that children can follow the order of exercises. 

Chilvers said: “One of the most rewarding parts has been to see the enthusiasm of the young people and some of the older participants, the teens and young adults.

“For some of them, it’s a highlight of their week.

“It’s nice to have provided them with an extracurricular activity that they feel welcomed and included in.”

Parents are invited to stay in the room during sessions, and can stay on the sidelines, or participate in exercises.

Chilvers explained that the classes provide an opportunity for parents to share experiences and offer to one another. 

“Parenting SEN kids on your own can become potentially quite an isolating experience because there are some things that are not suitable or not available to our children.” 

The classes have been hugely popular, with families travelling from other boroughs including Southwark and Croydon to in. 

Chilvers said: “I’m glad that it works for the families that do regularly attend, but I think it would be great if these sorts of opportunities were more widely available.

“I suppose the reason I set it up as a volunteer is because I saw there was a potential need for my own son, and it didn’t exist.”

Chilvers was nominated for the award by the chairperson of the Lambeth branch of NAS, as well as by parents of children who have participated. 

He voiced his hopes that the nomination may help when applying for future grants, for which there is much competition. 

He said being shortlisted would hopefully show his own commitment and that of volunteers and families that attend, and could make Boxing for Autism stand out from other bids.

Funding from Lambeth Council has provided the scheme with financial security throughout 2025, but Chilvers said it would have to be reacquired on a year-by-year basis. 

Chilvers also highlighted the work done by NAS, who run coffee mornings for autistic adults, ‘Sensory Sundays’ for young children, and light up the London Eye in purple to celebrate World Autistic Acceptance Month.

The Lambeth Civic Awards ceremony will take place on 22 April.   

Picture credit: Mark Chilvers

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The last Brockwell Live drop-in session left campaigners more determined than ever to make Lambeth council listen.

The festival series Brockwell Live has caused increasing levels of damage and disturbance to Brockwell Park over the past few years. 

Protect Brockwell Park is a group of over 500 residents who launched a campaign to raise £30,000 that would enable them to challenge Lambeth Council over its park licensing. 

One of the heads of Protect Brockwell Park, Lucy, said: “Our issue is that Lambeth council is giving the promoters a repeated to put on these festivals without sufficient scrutiny or transparency, and without following a process that can be challenged by people.”

With eight days to go until their petition expires, the Protect Brockwell Park campaign has raised over two thirds of its fighting fund target.

Protect Brockwell Park wrote a long letter to the council with 800 signatures and is still awaiting a response.

Lucy added: “We understood that despite all these signatures, we were still without a voice.”

Flawed processes, policy breaches and unacceptable negative impacts on the park are some of the key issues Protect Brockwell Park has raised with the council. 

Forty-five per cent of amenity grassland was fenced off for 68 days to enable setup, events, derig and incomplete restoration during the prime spring months last year. 

Lucy added: “Although the festival site isn’t the whole park, it affects the whole park.” 

Large areas were without grass all summer, and the damage has affected students, groups and families who rely on the park for its green space. 

The wellbeing value associated with the frequent use of local parks and green spaces is worth £34.2 billion per year to the entire UK adult population, according to a Fields in Trust study. 

A representative from Extinction Rebellion Lambeth, Katie, said: “You don’t have to be an ecologist, an activist or a statistician to look at the ground and see that it is ruined.”

The St Matthews Project, which provides football pitches for underprivileged children, has been unable to use them for the past two years due to ground damage caused by festival events. 

Herne Hill resident Tim Harris, 64, added: “My main concern comes down to the fact that the park is in a terrible state after the event and that it is on for a long time. They don’t consider that, even now [nine months later], there are still barriers up.” 

The roughly nine-foot-high steel fencing affects the Brockwell Park Miniature Railway, obstructing visitors’ scenic views during the festival months. 

The Miniature Railway was one of the Brockwell Live Community Fund recipients two years ago. 

The owner, John, said: “The fund has proved its weight in gold in keeping the railway going.”

However, footfall to the Miniature Railway drops during the months of May and June, which used to be their busiest. 

Brockwell Live hosted several drop-in sessions for the community to raise concerns and .

Tim added: “When I spoke to them, they did a Donald Trump on me and just kept repeating their mantra.” 

A spokesperson from Brockwell Live said: “We will continue to work with [the community] and the local authority, who review our use of the park annually, ensuring we fulfil our obligations to everyone for whom the park is such a vital and beloved open space.

“We are exploring the possibility of investing in improvements to the park’s underlying infrastructure, including drainage, with the aim of reducing the impact of wet weather during the event and for the benefit of all park s throughout the year.”

Lambeth Council were approached for comment.

Protect Brockwell Park for everyone campaign can be found HERE

Stop fencing off and damaging Brockwell Park can be found HERE

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The second iteration of an immersive playground experience crafted entirely from reclaimed materials from shows is being hosted by the Southbank Centre.

REPLAY: A Limitless Recycled Playground allows infants to unleash their imagination in a space constructed entirely out of props and set pieces which were previously used in theatrical productions and fashion runways.

Hull-based production company The Herd first staged REPLAY in 2023 after Southbank commissioned an audience-led production from them, and is running again at the same venue as part of Southbank’s ‘Spring Family Fun’ programme.

The Herd co-artistic director Sam Caseley said: “We’ve worked really hard to empower and delight parents and carers as well as the children so that they feel like they can have a good time in that space with their child.

“Because we work across the arts and the entertainment industries, and we understand that in a lot of these worlds there’s an inherent waste because stuff pops up and then gets taken down.

“A fashion show can last a day and it can cost however much money and materials to build.”

Caseley added the team, spearheaded by him, Ruby Thompson, and Rūta Irbīte, wanted to create a piece which had responsibility at its heart, particularly in the age of the climate crisis.  

One of the most integral features of the physical space, the curved s which adorn the walls, were taken from a Steve McQueen runway show. 

The accumulated objects then underwent what they described as an artistic reintervention, as the team adapted them to be safe for use by children. 

Caseley linked the process of reclaiming physical materials to the way in which children reclaim objects in their own imagination, which formed the key tenet of the project. 

The experience also features a soundtrack composed by him using what he termed reclaimed sounds taken from the Southbank building, including the sound of the ticket machine and the lift. 

The experience lasts just under an hour, and begins with an explanation of the piece’s message of reclaiming, before revealing the playground space to the audience . 

Caseley said: “That moment is super magic, and you get a real sort of shock and wonder from parents and children alike.

“You feel that kind of excited energy and it just feeds into the whole thing.”

The experience ends with the children returning the objects to their colour-coordinated homes as a countdown plays, so the cycle of play can begin again, reinforcing the show’s message of cyclicity and looking after spaces. 

In the autumn, REPLAY will head to Bradford as part of its City of Culture programming, before returning to the Southbank Centre for the first half of 2026. 

Caseley hopes the project will eventually find a permanent venue in the company’s home city of Hull. 

REPLAY: A Limitless Recycled Playground is playing until 1 June.

https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/replay-a-limitless-recycled-playground

Picture credit: Pete Woodhead

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Lambeth residents are petitioning for the removal of a green council initiative, which has seen the closure of neighbourhood streets in an effort to make the area more environmentally and family friendly. 

The Kennington Oval Reimagined scheme was introduced in September, in an effort to make the Kennington Park Estate greener and more family-friendly.

Bookended by two primary schools and set in the shadow of The Oval cricket ground, the estate is also the subject of a schools’ traffic scheme, meaning for two hours out of the day, the school streets are closed to all traffic, to allow children to come in and out of school safely.

However, Kennington Park Estate resident Lisa Young said: “The fact that the two schemes have been put in together means that this part of the estate is essentially marooned for two hours a day.

“So, no deliveries, no services, no doctors can come – and there are lots of older people who live on the estate – and it has meant that some people are not willing to come because they’re not entirely sure of the times.”

Taxi drivers are also now allegedly hesitant to venture on to the estate, in fear of fines associated with the schools scheme, Lisa explained. 

Watch the video below to hear more about the inconveniences Lambeth residents say they now face as a result of the Reimagined green initiative. 

Neither Lambeth Council nor The Oval have responded to requests for comment.

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London’s increase in people sleeping rough has been a perennial issue, but the latest figures from Lambeth portray a different picture.

The borough saw a 40% decrease in people sleeping rough in October to December 2024, compared to the same period of 2023, according to data from Greater London Authority.

It was the largest percentage fall in people sleeping rough, from 242 to 144, among the 11 London boroughs which recorded decreased numbers.

Lambeth Councillor David Bridson does not think this is a coincidence, claiming they have a strong system for people sleeping rough.

The council partners with Thames Reach, a London-based homelessness charity, to deliver daily outreach services.

In cases of Severe Emergency Weather Protocol (SWEP), extra shifts are added to provide additional .

The outreach team can then use the Vulnerable Adults’ Pathway, which includes the 24-hour Lambeth Assessment Centre and specialist hostels, to accommodate rough sleepers with needs around substance use, mental health issues and offending.

During the November SWEP, they ed 18 individuals into emergency shelters, according to Bridson.

There are further plans to consult Lambeth residents and stakeholders on a draft Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy which will be reviewed by the council’s cabinet in the spring.

Bridson said: “One of the main priorities of the strategy is to ensure that rough sleeping is prevented where possible and that when it does occur, it is rare, brief and non-recurrent.

“The long-term physical and mental health impacts of sleeping rough are often significant. Where it occurs, we will take steps to ensure that these occurrences are rare, brief and not repeated.”

Zooming out of Lambeth, the overall rough sleeping numbers in London make for grim viewing.

Between October and December 2024, a total of 4,612 people were recorded as sleeping rough in London. This marks a 5% increase compared to the 4,389 rough sleepers from a year ago.

The rate of individuals sleeping rough in England increased from 6.8% per 100,000 people in 2023 to 8.1% in 2024, according to Gov.uk.

Thames Reach area director Isobel McKenna believes Lambeth, while working within financial constraints, can set an example for others to follow.

She said: “The borough is well resourced and there has been a lot of focus on reducing rough sleeping wherever possible through t efforts from the council and voluntary sector partners.

“Lambeth is always working hard to reduce the prevalence and impact of rough sleeping.”

Thames Reach not only helps Lambeth Council with the outreach team, but also the 24-hour Lambeth assessment centre which accepts referrals for people who are rough sleeping or at risk of it.

The charity also provides a rapid response team which works every night to find and people who are sleeping on the streets into accommodation.

This service has access to the 24-hour Lambeth assessment centre, meaning in Lambeth there is immediate same-night access for people found rough sleeping.

McKenna added: “It is a huge advantage in ending someone’s rough sleeping as quickly and safely as possible.

“We focus on keeping our interventions and as brief as possible, our aim is for people to move on with their lives.

“We want to increase the opportunities for people to find work, including with ourselves, and make sure the transition to work is as smooth as possible with personalised available.”

Over the past 12 months, Thames Reach’s Lambeth outreach team has moved 169 individuals off the streets into suitable accommodation.

Previously, Lambeth ranked fourth for the highest number of people sleeping rough, but dropped to 12th in the final quarter of 2024.

Another homelessness charity, The Robes Project, which is based in Southwark and Lambeth, has contributed to this improvement.

Since the beginning of November, Robes has hosted Winter Night shelters for rough sleepers.

Guests attend a different church venue each night, given a safe and warm place to sleep along with a nutritious dinner and a weekly travel to get to their venues.

This continues for 28 consecutive nights, while Robes’ advice workers concurrently help them work towards longer-term accommodation.

Once they are settled, Robes offers them a floating service to help prevent repeat rough sleeping.

For example, Stanislaw* had lived in the UK for many years before Brexit with EU “Full Settled” status.

But after losing his job, Stanislaw, who had a history of rough sleeping, entered Robes’ shelters as he was unable to afford rent.

Robes CEO Lisa Moodie said: “It became apparent that Stanislaw had struggled with alcohol misuse but was not willing to address this whilst he was in our shelters.

“We were able to help Stanislaw access private rental, and once accommodated he felt ready to get around his drinking.”

Stanislaw has now been sober for over 10 months, is working part time, and has gone back to college to improve his prospects.

He is just one of many that Robes has helped move off the streets, but the charity still struggles with funding a small number of paid staff and overheads.

Donations make up the majority of their income, and they are constantly on the lookout for fundraising ideas such as their SleepOut event every November

Moodie added: “We often say at Robes ‘it takes a village’, and it’s our firm belief that if we all work together towards a common goal, great things can be achieved.”

All images courtesy of Thames Reach

*name changed to preserve anonymity

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An EastEnders-themed drag theatre production is debuting at the Clapham Grand for one night only at 27 March.

First performed in 2021, and again at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in 2024, EastBenders aims to take the beloved British soap to a new level of camp.

The show follows the residents of Albert Square as they try to figure out which one of them stole the iconic Queen Victoria bust.

When asked about why the soap was perfect for a drag adaptation, drag performer Carrot said: “We all love EastEnders and drag so it’s a celebration of the show and it’s like all the characters are turned up to 100%.”

The thought of combining EastEnders (EE), drag queens, and theatre together may seem questionable to some, but Carrot believes otherwise.

They added: “There are these larger than life characters, especially the women, and EastEnders in its history has always in ahead of the curve with representation.”

To reflect the show’s queer representation and fandom, EastBenders will be for ELOP, a charity that offers a range of services for LGBT individuals.

Carrot hopes fans of EastEnders who are not familiar with drag still come to the show with an open mind and should expect to laugh a lot and be very shocked.

They also teased a very special guest from the soap’s cast will be making an appearance to pick the best EastEnders costume from the audience.

With EastEnders celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the team behind EastBenders had to narrow down and figure out the best characters and moments from the soap to weave into their story.

Carrot explained: “Drag is always about responding to society as it is now and this show aims to do that while still having all the iconic meme moments from EE.”

Tickets to see EastBenders are available at: https://link.dice.fm/l0227d891069?dice_id=l0227d891069&sharer_id=66210a9e4d74eb00019acb8b&sharer=fan

Featured image credit: @eastenderscabaret

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