The SAG Award winner, alongside Jayde Adams and Jo Martin, is set to support the North London organisation
BY YASMIN VINCE, IMAGE BY NETFLIX
Hackney Showroom, the North London award-winning theatre producers and grassroots community centre, has announced Jessica Gunning as one of its patrons in the run-up to its 10th anniversary. Alongside Jayde Adams and Jo Martin, Jessica will help support the next decade of innovative theatre, artist development and community outreach.
“I was at the launch of Hackney Showroom in 2015, so I’m very honoured to be a patron 10 years on. It’s a place that nurtures talent and provides opportunities for many people,” said Jessica. The actress is hot off a very successful awards season after she played stalker Martha in Baby Reindeer. Many will also recognise Jessica from the iconic queer film, Pride, where she played a Welsh coalminer’s wife who, alongside Lesbians & Gays Support the Miners, helps keep the miner’s strike going.
Jessica’s words were echoed by Jo Martin and Jayde Adams, who have also been announced as patrons. “I applaud Hackney Showroom, especially in times like these, because we need organisations that are prepared to take risks and tell diverse stories we haven’t heard before,” said Jo.
Comedian Jayde added that Hackney Showroom is “showing other organisations what it actually means to support diverse communities”.
Founded in 2015 by director Sam Curtis Lindsay and dramaturg Nina Lyndon, Hackney Showroom began as a performance space in a converted warehouse. It has spent the past decade creating genre-defying theatre and collaborating with groundbreaking artists, performers and directors. Alongside its artistic programme, the organisation, in partnership with the Kings Crescent Residents Association, offers a free cultural community programme for Kings Crescent residents experiencing deprivation.
As part of the 10th anniversary celebrations, Hackney Showroom will also have a fundraising raffle. The raffle has a target of £10,000 and tickets can be bought from now until 8 April. Prizes include a £500 Eurostar voucher, tickets to the We Out Here Festival and Mighty Hoopla, and more. The fundraiser will help support the community programmes run by Hackney Showroom, as well as ArtsLab, their artist development programme.
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