A mixture of local talent and nationally-acclaimed performers will take part in Scratch Night Preston next week.

The scratch night – a platform for performers to deliver new and developing work to an audience – attracted dozens of applications to its open call.

The final seven selected performers represent a diverse range of experience and genres.

Included in the line-up are Edinburgh Fringe festival regulars, comic performer Cheekykita and poet Louise Fazackerley. Both are familiar to Preston crowds, having performed several times in the city, including in shows at last year’s Lancashire Fringe Festival.

Cheekykita will debut new work for her Edinburgh Fringe-bound show Batsh*t, while Wigan-based poet Fazackerley is using the scratch night to test out elements of her new show Cats Don’t Cry/Are Cats The Cure?

Alongside Cheekykita and Fazackerley are spoken word performers Stella Aster, who is from Leyland, and UCLan student performer Harley Keasey.

And there are exciting new theatre performances from Maya Ozolina, Hatty Ashton and Anthony Haddon, and Dean Wallace with an Edgar Allan Poe-inspired new work.

The scratch night is part-funded by Lancashire Fringe Festival, which took place across Preston on 15 consecutive nights last autumn.

Ticket prices have been subsidised by the fringe festival and cost just £6.

As part of the night the audience will be invited to give feedback to the performers, with each artist having prepared a specific question to answer about their show.

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Scratch Night Preston organiser Garry Cook, whose Enjoy the Show organisation has put on over 150 events and exhibitions in Preston, said: “I’m really looking forward to what will be a very exciting night of performances.

“Scratch nights are a really enjoyable way of seeing lots of different types of performances, with each one quite short. The night feels very fast moving.

“I know from holding Lancashire Fringe Festival in Preston across the past 10 years that the opportunity for local artists to perform is really appreciated. This is particularly important in Preston when there are so few opportunities for theatremakers to performer their work. 

“Having a platform like this really inspires performers, no matter what stage of their career they are at.”

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Scratch Night Preston takes place at The Ferret on Wednesday 19 March from 7.30pm. There will be a number of diverse performances ranging from five minutes to 30 minutes in duration.

Tickets are available from Skiddle.

Full list of performers

(Running order to be confirmed on the night)

PERFORMANCE
Hatty Ashton & Anthony Haddon
Big Chickens, Big Poo – An audience with Dr Jane Cluckall

Dr Jane Cluckall, chicken libber and activist, is interviewed about her latest film “Uber Huhne” documenting the true events leading to the mysterious disappearance of her chickens who accidently dropped into a hole and landed in a system of Medieval tunnels. In the retelling of this tale Dr Cluckall will faithfully represent all the chickens in their glorious individual characteristics and tell you what happened when they met the Uber Huhne under the ground. 

Social media: @anthonyhaddon1928 

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SPOKEN-WORD PERFORMANCE
Stella Aster
(home): love and loss (for place)

A multimedia performance piece exploring themes of home, loss and waste through a combination of sculpture, video and spoken word.

Social media: @stella.aster.92

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COMEDY PERFOMANCE
Cheekykita
Batshit

A woman half bat lived in the woods in Manchester with different characters. A clowny show with songs, dancing and audience interaction. Very silly.

Social media: @cheekykita1

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SPOKEN-WORD PERFORMANCE
Louise Fazackerley
Cats Don’t Cry/Are Cats The Cure?

For people who love facts about cats or like The Cure or people who wonder if they should cry more or less or more.

Social media: @louisethepoet

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SPOKEN-WORD PERFORMANCE
Harley Keasey
Labyrinth

How does a young woman navigate life with a chronically ill body? How far can she go alone? 
Labyrinth is an exploration of a young woman lost in a maze of chronic illness and disability myths. What happens when she’s turning left, turning right? Will she ever see the light? So take 1one step forward and 10 steps back to see yourself lost in the labyrinth, lost in the trap. Harley Keasey is a feminist theatre maker, performance and spoken word artist based between the North West and the Midlands. Her work is highly political and focuses on the feminist issues of today. 

Social media: @harleykeasey_pa @harley_keasey

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THEATRE PERFORMANCE
Maya Ozolina
Everything Is Poetry

Social media: @mayaozolina

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THEATRE PERFORMANCE
Dean Wallace
An Audience at the Asylum

The audience is transported into the room of Mr Allan Edgar, inmate at Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum, Middlesex, in the year 1872. Mr Edgar proceeds to recount the terrible crime that led to his indefinite committal in the Asylum. The performance is based on the short story, The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe.

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This story was made possible by you, our readers, and a host of organisations in the city, through our Crowdfund Lancashire appeal, which unlocked support from the Lancashire Culture and Sport Fund provided by Lancashire County Council. You can see all our coverage and, if you know of an arts project or event in the city we should be covering, you can submit it for our event listings and/or send details to contactus@blogpreston.co.uk for us to cover it as a story on the Blog.