Ten years of Club Silencio: Juno Dawson remembers her fondest memories as the beloved queer club night comes to end
"After ten surreal, incredible years, we’ve decided to call time on our award-winning cabaret," says Dawson – but not without one final hurrah!
Club Silencio, Brighton’s underground queer cabaret collective, is coming to an end after ten years of unforgettable, gloriously gay club nights – but not before going out with a bang with one final cabaret hurrah this December.
Founded around 2015 in the city’s vibrant queer nightlife scene, Club Silencio has become a cult institution celebrating all letters of the LGBTQ+ community and beyond. Among its core members is Juno Dawson, acclaimed author, screenwriter and advocate, who has been one of the collective’s main writers and, over the years, has stepped on stage herself to play a host of queer icons.
Featuring live acts, immersive art, peep shows, and dark-room life drawing, Club Silencio has pushed boundaries. Hosting full-scale scripted musicals that champion queer outsider culture. Now, to mark their 10th anniversary, they’re bowing out in style with A Town Called Silencio, their final festive show.
Here, Dawson reflects on her fondest memories, Club Silencio, and its legendary troop. Over to you, Dawson.
After ten surreal, incredible years, we’ve decided to call time on our award-winning cabaret, Club Silencio. Something of a Brighton nocturnal institution, Silencio was founded in 2015 by multi-disciplinary artist and musician Stuart Warwick. “I wanted to create a queer, subversive alternative to mainstream gay clubbing. I wanted to create a space that was weird and arty and welcomed those outsiders who feel they don’t fit in at [classic Brighton club] Revenge,” he said. Warwick teamed up with production designer John Tovey and sound designer Craig White to create Silencio’s trademark sly and sleazy style which sat somewhere between Rent-a-Ghost and Viz magazine.
I became involved first as the in-house DJ, playing Girls Aloud between the performers. Before long, I ended up on stage, performing as – over the years – Melania Trump, Keira Knightley, Britney Spears and Meryl Streep amongst others. While better known as a writer, I have so enjoyed having a creative outlet that has nothing to do with my day-job. It’s such a bittersweet ending; to celebrate everything we’ve achieved, and also know how much I’m going to miss it.
What started as a musical cabaret in a damp sex dungeon gradually evolved into a series of darkly hilarious theatre productions starring a troupe of talented Brighton performers including MX Misha, artist Odd Fabrication, disability activist and artist Aye Up Tommy, and drag nightmare Mandy Sweats. Each show is narrated by Death himself (Sairie musician Jon Griffin, who also produces the musical numbers).
Guest performers over the years have included eligible bachelor Damian Friel, Drag Race UK season 7 star Tayris Mongardi, Harry Clayton-Wright and Brighton drag legend Lydia L’Scabies.
Our farewell show A TOWN CALLED SILENCIO goes up this December in our largest venue yet, the Old Courtroom. As a taster, here are my top ten highlight from ten magical years.
It’s Britney, Bitch
In 2017 we decided to uncover the truth behind Britney’s behaviour in 2007, and explored the possibility that her brain was replaced by that of Walt Disney who had been waiting in cryogenic suspension for a perfect host body.
Some Worm Over The Rainbow
Our 2022 show Return, Again, to Oz picked up twenty years later, to find Dorothy turning to ketamine to try recapture the magic of Oz. Alas, Dorothy is transformed into a giant worm. As you do.
Equality Of The Daleks
What if Marsha P Johnson didn’t throw the first brick at Stonewall? What if it was, in fact, a gay Dalek, hell bent on revenge for the death of Judy Garland?
Abbamania
In 2023 we staged the Peter Pan/Mamma Mia mashup no-one asked for: Peter Panna Papa Pia. This time, Jeremy Kyle was summoned to establish the paternity of Wendy Darling’s illegitimate daughter. Co-starring Bristol cabaret hunk Buoys Buoys Buoys.
Harry’s Hugh School Reunion
Club Silencio accurately predicted JKR’s descent to the dark side in our 2018 show. A turbulent return to Hogwarts, which featured a bitter Hermione, very upset that Ron had transitioned to become Roni. Featuring actual Thai boyband star Koen Danai as Cho Chang. JKR would love that.
Apocalypse Cow
Our first full-length musical featured Shelly and her children trying to survive in a post-nuclear wasteland occupied only by cockroaches and Cher. I had to wear roller-skates and have a paper bag on my head. I remain traumatised.
Dead Men Don’t Squark
Returning character Dick Dice (as played by Aye Up Tommy) led our monochrome murder mystery in 2017.
My Bloody Pantomime
In our most recent show, Miss Marple (as played by Keira Knightley) was hot, sexy, and on the case of a serial killer attacking pantomime performers. But what connects the murders to Taylor Swift?
2 Christmas 2 Carol
We’ve adapted A Christmas Carol twice. One saw Scroogela Braverman trying to send refugees to Rwanda on Christmas Eve, only to be visited by the ghost of Bjork. The first version, we don’t speak of, because we’d get cancelled.
The Silencio Nativity
I think my all-time favourite show. This was the first time we’d attempted a scripted play with songs, and it was the prototype for what Silencio would become. It was also the first appearance of villain Handrew Lloyd-Webber, a musical empresario blob made of hands… many hands.
Now, we arrive at the end! Tickets are available now for our final show on the official Ticket Source website, A Town Called Silencio, our ode to Hallmark Christmas movies. Running from 15 to 20 December at the Old Courtroom, Brighton.