Over the last few years there has been an increasing demand for Clare to appear at conferences, universities, for groups and organisations and present various talks addressing the subject matter of plays she has worked on: LGBTQ history, lesbian and gay asylum seekers, and mental health. All her talks contain performed theatrical segments from the relevant plays and films to which they relate.

TALKS OFFERED

• Speak Out London – Diversity City This talk is based on interviews recorded with LGBTQ Londoners for London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) where Clare worked as an outreach oral historian on this project. It includes personal memories from narrators and is accompanied by information about important LGBTQ historical events and movements.
• Gateway to Heaven, a talk. Following the writing of the play version of Gateway to Heaven, based entirely on memories from older lesbians and gay men, two national tours and the adaptation of this production into a film commissioned by Age Concern, Opening Doors, Clare now presents a talk about the research of this play and the interviews she had with 35 older people about their own experiences of growing up lesbian and gay and living in a world for much of their lives where the majority of society did not accept their sexual orientation. This talk is particularly popular in LGBT History Month.
• Staying Out Late, a presentational talk about older LGBT people’s concerns about being LGBT and in care in later life, either in their own home or in residential care.
• Hearing Voices, a talk about Clare’s play based on interviews with those who are mentally unwell, set in a secure psychiatric ward.
• Rights of Passage, a talk about the making of Clare’s latest verbatim play based on interviews with lesbian and gay asylum seekers.
• A Warm and Comical Glimpse into LGBT History, an informative talk a with songs!

 

Extract from Clare’s Presentational Talk, Gateway to Heaven

 

• Gateway To Heaven – Fifty Years of Lesbian and Gay Oral History. HMRC Dept for Business Innovation and Skills Conference. London.
• Gateway To Heaven –  Fifty Years of Lesbian and Gay Oral History. Carpmaels & Ransford law firm.
• Gateway To Heaven – Fifty Years of Lesbian and Gay Oral History. Teeside University.
• Gateway To Heaven – Fifty Years of Lesbian and Gay Oral History at Birmingham LGBT Centre
• Gateway To Heaven – Fifty Years of Lesbian and Gay Oral History at South Bank University.
• Gateway To Heaven- Fifty Years of Lesbian and Gay Oral History at Birmingham University
• Gateway To Heaven – Fifty Years of Lesbian and Gay Oral History at LSE.
• Rights of Passage – Lesbian and Gay Asylum seekers in the UK. London and Quadrant Housing
• Rights of Passage – Lesbian and Gay Asylum seekers in the UK. Surrey University
• Hearing Voices – stories from patients who met on a locked psychiatric ward. Emory University, Atlanta, US
• Hearing Voices – stories from patients who met on a locked psychiatric ward. Hertfordshire NHS conference
• Hearing Voices – stories from patients who met on a locked psychiatric ward. PACE (the LGBT mental health organisation).

Comedy Writing Workshops

Clare runs comedy writing workshop on line and in person. These last approximately three hours and the participants look at how to write stand-up, comedy sketches for cabaret or radio and humorous short stories. They are not only a lot of fun and always found to be extremely encouraging to those who may sometimes hide their writing ability under a metaphorical bushel! For more information  contact admin@claresummerskill.co.uk for details and bookings.