Underground queer cabaret bar to open beneath Ramsgate barbershop

This November, a new underground performance venue will open its doors beneath a Ramsgate barbershop — but this is no ordinary bar. The LGBTQ+ cabaret collective Screaming Alley is launching The Alley Bar, a members-only space dedicated to radical, queer, feminist and inclusive live art.

Hidden in the heart of the harbour town, The Alley Bar aims to become a vital hub for artists and audiences hungry for subversive, community-rooted performance. It will host regular cabaret nights, live performances, workshops and open mics — while directly funding artists to experiment, take risks and develop new work.

Built on a paid membership model, the venue promises fair pay for artists, crew and producers. Every membership and every drink sold goes back into artist fees and creative development. Memberships start from just £5 a month, with higher tiers offering perks such as guest passes, free entry and Producer Patron status. Visitors to the seaside town can get involved through temporary memberships that grant access to shows and events.

“We’re not opening a bar for frivolous reasons,” says Screaming Alley founder and creative producer Lara Clifton. “We’re doing it because our communities need access to performance, to get paid, and to have their voices heard. The art I’ve made throughout my whole career has always been about standing up against what divides us and bringing us together — which feels needed more than ever.”

Clifton, a long-time cabaret producer and feminist-queer activist, has been creating platforms for underground artists since the late 1990s. Her early projects, from Baby Oil & Ice: Striptease in East London — now archived at the V&A — to the legendary Whoopee Club, helped spark the UK’s neo-burlesque revival.

Screaming Alley, founded in 2018, has built a reputation for championing grassroots, working-class and queer performers across Thanet, London and the South East. The group’s community projects include The Screaming Marys, a performance collective for local women aged 18–75 that blends dance, burlesque and empowerment.

The Alley Bar will also lay the groundwork for Screaming Alley Management (SAM), a new artist management arm launching in 2026 to help independent performers build sustainable careers.

Thanks to support from Ramsgate Space — a local initiative turning empty high-street shops into creative venues — The Alley Bar transforms a vacant space into a new cultural heartbeat for the town. The opening season kicks off with drag legend Diane Chorley on 6 December, followed by Jonny Woo in January.

The Alley Bar at Salt House Barbers,12 Queen Street, Ramsgate will launch on 20^th November www.screamingalley.co.uk