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Out Of The Archive, a community-interest company that I co-founded with Val Regan in 2019, to bring LGBT+ lives out of archives into public spaces.

We were delighted to receive funding in 2022/23 from
Historic England's Everyday Heritage Grants
heritagecalling.com/2024/07/30/gwendas-garage-the-1980s-sheffield-garage-run-by-women-mechanics/
to write a new musical, Gwenda’s Garage.
www.outofthearchive.co.uk/gwenda-publi c
It was performed in Sheffield Crucible’s Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse to sell-out audiences with standing ovations on 13 & 14 November 2023.
Script by Nicky Hallett. Music and lyrics by Val Regan.
Drawing on oral history interviews with women associated with Gwenda’s Garage, a lesbian-run car repair workshop founded in 1985 and named after legendary racing driver Gwenda Stewart (1894-1990), our musical focused on their 1980s feminist campaigns, especially those surrounding the Tory government’s notorious Section 28, designed to prevent the so-called ‘promotion’ of homosexuality as a ‘pretended family relationship’. We fictionalised characters to represent their stories during a time of challenge, hardship, of friendship and fun; above all, one of faith that personal and collective action could create change.
‘History is a mystery in the making / Never certain truth be told …’
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We also curated Spanners in the Works, an exhibition and workshop in Sheffield’s Millennium Gallery, celebrating women in manual trades and feminist activism, to coincide with the 20-year anniversary of the repeal of Section 28. Over 134,000 visited the gallery during the period of its installation.
[Curated by Becky Graham and Amy Marsh, in collaboration with Museums Sheffield]
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Directed by Jelena Budimir, Gwenda’s Garage, The Musical starred professional actors and a live band.
It received outstanding reviews and standing ovations:
‘It is the Lesbian Musical Triumph of the century, of ever!’
Learn more and see live action of the show:
www.outofthearchive.co.uk/learn-more
CAST - Nancy Brabin-Platt, Georgina Coram, Lucy Mackay, Eva Scott, Ellena Vincent