THE GAPP GETS WIDER!

In May 2000 through a joint venture with American performance artist Tim Miller and the Fierce! Festival, a group of gay men were involved in creating a performance piece entitled: 'Lie back and think of Birmingham'.

After this experience men from that group founded a gay men's performance group called GAPP (Gay and Performing Proudly).

Supported by Healthy Gay Life and The Playhouse a theatre in education company in Birmingham, through a Creative Partnership programme GAPP met weekly at the Balsall Heath base.

 GAPP were commissioned by Fierce! Festival in 2001 where they performed their devised piece: 'Great Adventures Past and Present' which was supported by Birmingham Pride and the Lottery's "Awards for All" scheme.

GAPP worked with Birmingham Opera Company on their community opera 'Votzeck' in February 2001 and again performed in their production of Beethoven's 'Fidelio' in 2002.

GAPP were commissioned by "Duckie" - London's premiere performance art club at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern - to create "Horrorshow", a piece of work exploring gay men's experiences of violence. The piece premiered at the club on January 12th and played at the MAC (midland Arts Centre) in that spring.

For The Birmingham Pride Parade (formerly Mass Camp) in June 2002 GAPP were awarded £2000 pounds from West Midlands Arts' Youth Arts Fund and working with Christopher Green professional performer, design artistes, and choreographers to create a spectacle of splendour with glitter galore! - did you see the float at Mass Camp?

The Maths Tutor in Nov 2003 appeared at the REP Theatre on Broad St, and GAPP created a workshop performance.

The Witches on Hurst St in 2004 was a critical piece of theatre exploring the vast new residential and commercial developments and regeneration of the Gay Quarter in Birmingham.

At the new residency GAPP at the REP Theatre on Broad St developed with a new group of performers who wanted to have a more lighter theatre group, a change in focus encouraged women to join the theatre group as we devised Pantomime style pieces for Christmas time performances.

 A Fairy Tale. looked at a young persons perspective of coming out, Now't So Queer as Folk in 2006 and most recently Loose connections in May 2007 explored gay mens use of the internet.