A cabaret-performance turned dyke fever dream, On Our Backs follows Dilly, a hopelessly devoted femme barely holding herself together with cheap glamour and delusion. Longing for love, family and recognition, she turns to agony-aunt porn star/nurse Nina for guidance on sex, motherhood and what a dyke fairytale might look like.

Drawing from research at the Bishopsgate Institute and inspired by the radical 1980s lesbian magazine On Our Backs, this show folds queer archive into a contemporary, collage of femme performance, as Dilly writes incessantly to Nina, searching for advice on sex, love, motherhood, and what a lesbian fairytale might look like.

Through imagined correspondences and live confessionals, the show connects histories of dyke erotic expression, care, survival, and fantasy to the messy realities of queer life now.

At its core On Our Backs celebrates the messy, excessive, deeply vulnerable realities of queer femme life. It discusses queer-longing for intimacy, recognition, community and for a future, all whilst exploring how we carry queer histories forward, and what kinds of futures we might still build together: in heels and a red lip.

MAKE IT A DOUBLE BILL

Want to make a night of it? Join us before On Our Backs for coda: "Who Raised You?": Enter The Manosphere and save £2 on each ticket you book. Discount applies automatically.

OPEN MIC

We'll be hosting an Open Mic on Saturday 11 July in our bar to celebrate the opening week of Summer in The Ditch 2026. If you want to try out some quick material, sing a ballad or show us your close up magic skills, then pop by with your tap shoes. MC'd by our very own Helen Highwater. 8.30 - pm, booking isn't required, just turn up.

SUMMER IN THE DITCH

Nights of live performance, drag and cabaret. And cheap drinks at the bar!

Following the success of our annual artist takeover, Summer in The Ditch returns for a third year to showcase a dynamic mix of camp, queer, and cult work in our basement space.

With experimental new work, and rough and ready sessions from artists, ventriloquists, singers and performers, anything can happen and the unexpected is always welcome.

For the full Summer in The Ditch 2026 line-up, click here

All performances will be relaxed: audiences are allowed to move around, make noise and leave the room. Latecomers will be admitted.

Image: Joana Veloso