The result of a fruitful collaboration between Matt Addicott from Platform, Susannah Armitage from National Theatre of Scotland and author-playwright Lewis Hetherington – also known as the collective fieldwork performance – the trio presents QWERK, a three-night long event series introducing fresh international queer playwright voices to a Scottish audience. Featuring never heard before submissions from all over the world, the event takes place at Category Is Books in Glasgow from Fri 27 to Sun 29 Sep.

The colourful programme aims to let such international stories and plays be heard that resonate with the Scottish public. The playwrights represent a wide variety of countries, from Brazil to Russia through Egypt and Singapore. The audience have the opportunity to explore LGBTQIA+ experiences from different cultural, political and social backgrounds. While each performance varies in length, art form, style and theme, every night has a dedicated topic to showcase three collections of the submitted pieces, entitled 'Age and Intimacy' (27 Sep), 'Queering the Family' (28 Sep) and 'Rainbow State' (29 Sep).

The unique script-in-hand readings tell dark stories from Russia and India as well as more light-hearted ones from New Zealand and America. Event highlights include two theatre plays from Brazilian playwrights. Caio Riscado's Majestic Pink Dream is a playful and unconventional piece that questions our thoughts on happiness as taught by the fairy tales we all grew up on. Mila Teixera's Inscription in the Sand is a darker play in a form of a love letter from a closeted woman. The nights will be directed by Maggie Kinloch, Lewis Hetherington and Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh, and each programme is followed by an informal group chat where audience can dive deep into certain themes.

The organisers hope that QWERK will offer a supportive platform for queer playwrights and to generate conversations about queer theatre in general. All events are free to attend but donations are welcome to local LGBTQIA+ charities.

QWERK, Category Is Books, Glasgow, Fri 27–Sun 29 Sep, free.