Celebrating Queer Talent: Seven Dials Playhouse’s Creative Director Katie Pesskin Discusses The Venues Pride Season

As the Creative Director of Seven Dials Playhouse, Katie Pesskin is at the helm of the venue’s vibrant programming, including this year’s highly anticipated Pride Season. A celebration of LGBTQ+ stories and voices, the season showcases a diverse range of talent from theatre to comedy. Here, Katie shares the inspiration behind the season, the importance of platforming queer artists, and the impact she hopes it will have on audiences. From thought-provoking performances to joyous, celebratory shows, Seven Dials Playhouse is bringing Pride to the stage in a very exciting way.

Seven Dials’ Pride Season celebrates LGBTQ+ stories in a big way. What inspired this year’s programming, and how did the team go about curating it?As we moved into this new chapter at Seven Dials Playhouse, it felt like the perfect moment to kick things off with a major Pride celebration. We’ve always worked with a lot of queer-led artists and programmed queer work, and this season gave us the opportunity to really spotlight and platform that.

We’d been in conversation with Hive North about bringing Jock Night back after its sell-out run here in 2023, so that was the starting point. From there, we wanted to ensure we were presenting a diverse range of LGBTQIA+ voices.

We’re excited to be presenting the London premiere of Bi-Topia, which was a hit at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe. It’s written and performed by Sam Danson and directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair. We’re also welcoming back two artists we previously supported through our Seven from Seven scheme with Pleasance: Bank Tails and Queer Planet.

In addition to those, we have a fantastic Celine Dion-inspired drag show from Moira Less, and work-in-progress performances from a brilliant group of queer comics, many of whom are heading to the Fringe. Altogether, it’s a season full of joy, talent, and variety.

Can you tell us about the significance of spotlighting queer voices in both theatre and comedy for this season? Pride is a celebration, but it has its roots in protest. The queer community continues to face real challenges, and that’s been especially clear in recent years. So, it feels more important than ever to create a platform, and a space, for queer voices and community to gather, be heard, and be celebrated. We also want to invite new audiences into these stories and conversations.

Does this Pride Season reflect the wider ethos of Seven Dials Playhouse and your programming vision?Absolutely. Our programming vision is about platforming a diverse range of voices and genres. This season reflects that perfectly — it brings together a variety of artists, styles, and perspectives, and feels like a clear expression of what we’re aiming to do more broadly moving forward.

What is something you hope audiences will take away from experiencing the Seven Dials Pride lineup?I hope audiences will come away having learned something - and feeling buoyant and full of joy about the work they’ve seen.

How do you approach balancing celebration and activism in Pride-related programming?Many of the shows in the season carry important messages, but they deliver those messages through powerful storytelling - whether that’s comedy, drama, or something more experimental. Theatre has a unique ability to shift perspectives and open people’s minds in a way that’s different from protest or petitions.

I hope that by watching these shows, audiences will come away thinking about something in a new way, or with a greater understanding than they had before. And at the same time, we want them to celebrate and enjoy the brilliance of queer performance.

What’s a piece of feedback or audience reaction you’d love to hear by the end of the season?I’d love to hear that audiences want to come back - that they enjoyed the work so much they’re eager to return. That would be the best outcome.

Seven Dials Playhouse’s Pride Season of shows will run from the 3rd to 22nd June.For ticket and more information, visit: https://www.sevendialsplayhouse.co.uk/