Hi! Thanks so much for agreeing to be a special guest at Moving Voices.
Here is some information for you, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask on Facebook messenger or by emailing info@thearthousesouthampton.co.uk
Info in advance
Please send us a bio, a photo we can use and make sure we know your performance name if it is different to your everyday name, and please also let us know your pronouns and let us know how your name is pronounced. Ideally, we need a photo of you performing, if not then any full body photo will do (head shots don’t work very well with our poster template).
If you need help writing a bio, check out our blog post about this here and ask if you’re stuck.
Location
Moving Voices is held at Bitterne Station Community Hub – click here for full details including accessibility info.
Bitterne Station Community Hub is a small, informal community space which fits around 25 people max, so it is an intimate venue! It is on the train platform so there will be some noise from trains going past, people on the platform etc.
Tickets, expenses, merch and guest list
You don’t need to book a ticket for yourself and can bring 1 guest, just let us know for numbers.
We can cover travel expenses including parking costs up to a maximum of £25 – the quickest way is to make sure you have a receipt and bring it with you so we can give you the cash, otherwise please photograph your receipt and send it along with your payment details to info@thearthousesouthampton.co.uk – if your travel is more than the minimum, just discuss this with us.
You are welcome to bring books and other merch to sell, although be aware there isn’t space for a proper merch table.
Arrival time and tech
If you’re performing in person and just need a mic, please arrive around 6.30pm so we have a chance to say hi and get you settled. If you can’t make it that early, just let us know. We will be at the venue from around 6pm.
If you have a backing track or instrument, please do arrive by 6.15pm so we can sound check quickly and ideally send us the backing track in advance to the email address above. Any tech questions, please just ask!
Set length
Most guest slots are 20-25 minutes, we may have agreed a slightly different slot with you to suit your material.
Subject matter
As poetry, spoken word and music is often personal and vulnerable, this event assumes that potentially triggering topics may arise and the audience has been made aware of that. The event is aimed at an adult audience and adult themes and language often happen, as do controversial topics.
We hold space for radical change and are accustomed to hearing less mainstream views, as well as being actively pro-queer, pro-Black, anti-state-violence and anti-oppression. Our guideline is to ‘punch up’ and consider the target of any jokes, criticism or satire to ensure that we are not harming those with less privilege than the person performing – in short punching N@z1 jokes are fine, we’ll laugh, small dick jokes are body shaming and transphobic and we won’t.
We aim to platform a variety of voices here at The Art House, however, intolerant views and slurs* will not be tolerated – racism, misogyny, ableism, ageism, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia, r*pe jokes, jokes about harming children or joking about violence towards animals is not OK. If you’re worried about anything you intend to perform, please just ask and we can talk it through.
*Reclaimed slurs are absolutely allowed, though, go for it.
Timing
Doors open at 7pm and the open mic starts at 7.30pm, with a break around 8.30pm. Special guests usually start around 9pm and we usually have time for a couple of open micers to return for a quick fire round at the end. Please let us know if you need to get away early to catch a train or any other reason, we’ll sort something out as we can be flexible.
Changing
There is not a lot of space at the station, and only one loo, so if you need to change that is where you’ll be.
Filming and photography
We film some sections of performances take photographs to share on various platforms. You are welcome to use any of the footage of you and your performance, giving us credit where possible.
We understand that people have differing levels of comfort with being seen online, so if you have any concerns please chat to us in advance so that we can respect your privacy and agency on this.
