Take a fern. Uproot it. Carefully remove the plant from the soil. Be careful not to fall. Beware of cutting your hands on its stem. Remove the fern from the forest and place it within a specially designed glass case. Watch it grow. Watch it die.  

Pteridomania is a queer love story set amidst the 19th Century fern hunting craze. The opera follows a forbidden relationship that flourishes between two women in the safety of the forest. Obsessive Victorian commodification meets the untameable natural world. Will they survive outside of their natural habitat? 

Created by a collective of queer, gender non-conforming artists, Pteridomania reimagines opera as collaborative, radical and non-hierarchical, focussing on untold histories of queerness.

Live electronics are combined with opera, folk music, improvisation, movement, and performance art to create a terribly seductive and immersive performance.

Featuring Edie Bailey (vocals and viola), CJ Calderwood (live electronics), and Aly Carter (movement).

MAKE IT A DOUBLE BILL

Want to make a night of it? Join us after Pteridomania for Operotica featuring Séayoncé: Lovers in Every Lifetime 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. 8.30pm - 9pm, 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.

Creative Team: Edie Bailey, Aly Carter, Hestor Dart, CJ Calderwood, Josie Ireland, and Emily Cave.