While a Resident Artist at the Roundhouse in 2014 and 2015, I founded and ran Cushion Collective, the venue’s longest-running resident cabaret and performance art collective. I produced and hosted all of Cushion’s shows and events, as well as performed in them.

Cushion debuted with our variety show Cushion & Co. Cabaret at Hackney WickED Art Festival at The Yard Theatre, followed by our variety show What the F*ck is Love? at the Roundhouse, Bestival, and Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, the latter adapted to our debut club night WTF is Love (In This Club?), followed by HALLOKWEEN!, and in 2018, our comeback Happy Hollygays, both at BGWMC. We were also the resident entertainment troupe at Camden Market and worked with MAC Cosmetics on MAC Backstage.

Cushion Collective were Sam Reynolds, Scarlett Lassoff, Jasmine Shigemura Lee, Fauve Alice, Hannah Davis, Polly Beck, Felix Huxtable, and Sophie Wakefield, with the Cushion & Co. cohort Gerald Curtis, Jessica McKerlie, Joana Nastari, Chris Sav, Balthazar Mattar, Izzy Tennyson, Celyn of Gwent, Tallulah Haddon, Billy Hicks, and Lu Pazzini.

Jasmine and I also performed together as Cushion Eurasian Society, and I also presented, produced, and edited Cushion’s radio show, Cushion Cabaradio, on Roundhouse Radio.

Photo by Alvaro Santonja.