West End stars and Eurovision favourites team up for LGBTQ+ IVF fundraiser
Kitty Scott Claus and Remember Monday members Lauren and Holly (Getty Images)
West End stars – including Drag Race UK finalist Kitty Scott-Claus and Eurovision favourites Lauren Byrne and Holle Anne Hull of Remember Monday – are uniting for to raise money for a queer couple’s IVF journey.
Taking place at the Lyric Theatre on 1 June, “Roles We’ll Never Play: LGBTQ+ IVF Fundraiser” will see performers and creatives volunteer their talents to raise money for West End actresses Lauren Soley and Josie Kemp.
The couple, who met while appearing in Les Misérables at what was then the Queen’s Theatre, have to self-fund their IVF treatment, as many same-sex female couples do, under the current NHS fertility criteria. Funded treatment pathways are more difficult to access for same-sex couples than heterosexual couples. It’s expected to cost Soley and Kemp more than £35,000.
‘The government will look back on this time with shame’
The couple told PinkNews: “Throughout the ongoing process of IVF, we’ve had to neurotically spreadsheet our options and host fundraisers because the government has made access to parenthood via fertility treatment so painfully unfair. We believe that in years to come, the government will look back on this time with shame. We can’t help but wonder what the real reason is behind the government funding our straight counterparts but leaving most queer couples to fend for themselves. We can only seem to land on one thing, blatant discrimination.
“We got a text from a friend saying that she’s expecting a baby – we were overjoyed. She’s been through the taxing process of IVF, however, without an additional burden hanging over her – she’s straight, therefore the government deems her worthy of a funded family. We need the government’s support desperately, yet we are forgotten, very much an afterthought. We will keep going, because we have to, but it’s impossible to ignore how much harder this has been made because of a system that’s decided queer families are less worth supporting.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers, friends and both the theatre community and queer community, coming together to donate their time and talents to help us raise money to try and start a family. It has been incredibly emotional and exceptionally heartwarming.”
Event details
Drag Race favourite Kitty Scott-Claus, West End performers Alice Fearn (Wicked), Idris Kargbo (The Lion King), Sejal Keshwala (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie), and Desmonda Cathabel (Hadestown) are leading the line-up.
Joining them are Lauren Byrne (Six) and Holly Anne Hull (The Phantom of the Opera) from Remember Monday, who represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2025, with comedian Lee Peart hosting.
More cast announcements are set to come before the big night.
The show will combine performances and heartfelt storytelling as a celebration of theatre, queer joy and generosity.
Tickets (available now) cost from £25 to £75.
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