Today's full programme, more choices & comment
Two different stories tied together by one commonality, their Vietnamese mothers. Lòng M?, which translates into Mother’s Soul/Heart/Love takes you on two very personal journeys; a son coming to terms with the lengths his mother takes to provide for him, even if it means a brush with the law, and a daughter seeing her mother in a new light through her own impending motherhood. This is a tender love letter to all mothers whose love, sacrifice, wit, and steel are what makes us who we are, whether we like it or not.
A stage adaptation of the short story “A Report to An Academy” by Franz Kafka.
An African ape has been captured in the jungles of West Africa and brought back to ‘civilisation’ by his European captors. To escape a life of incarceration, he ‘evolves’ into a human being. Red Peter mimics human habits from the crew of the ship upon which he is imprisoned, masters human speech and eventually decides to embrace human society rather than languish in a zoo as an ape. He even performs as a human on the vaudeville stage.
A comedy spoken word show about gender, the media and not fitting any of the boxes, full of explosive movement, original songs and kickass video projection. Edalia Day is a banjo wielding, poetry slam winning, trans warrior, taking on the world one troll at a time. <br/>Too Pretty To Punch is a hilarious and uplifting journey through what it means to be trans in 21st century Britain. It reminds all of us (regardless of who we are) of the power of celebrating our existence.<br/>"Head-spinning, joyful, painful, funny - and I loved the tech. It's a blast from and to the heart." - Chris Thorpe<br/>Edalia is a transgender/non-binary spoken word artist, animator and theatre maker based in Norwich. Trained at Lecoq and Alra, their theatre is visually stunning, with physical comedy and a child like sense of play at the heart of everything they make.<br/>?Writer/Performer/Animator: Edalia Day
Composer: Billie Bottle
Artists: B Mure & Jack Kelly
Set Design: Leo Calder
Stage manager: David Calder
Poster Design: David Cousens<br/>The finale includes poetry, video and audio contributions from 15 transgender and/or nonbinary poets from all over the world:<br/>Lee Mokobe, Ashe Vernon, Cairo Nevitt, Ash Palmisciano Robbie Masters, Adriana Scott Newsum, Leo George, George Cook, Millie Quick, Sez Thomasin, Jay Hulme, Carey Wood-Duffy, Kit Rayne, Kay Kassirer.
After sell-out runs in Edinburgh, London, Bristol and Hong Kong, Spies Like Us bring their explosive physical style to Vault Festival for the first time with a work in progress.<br/>When a Professor answers an apparently random phone call that seems eerily pertinent to their own life, decade-long feuds are uncovered and old wounds are prised open. In a race against the clock to save their family and their job, the Professor hares across the quad from the library, to the lecture hall to the gymnasium attempting to uncover whodunnit and why. Multi-award winners Spies Like Us present an action-packed physical thriller about connection, forgiveness and inter-faculty rivalry on the grand old grounds of a 1970s university campus. <br/>Praise for previous work:
***** - Voice Magazine
***** - British Theatre Guide
***** - Theatre Weekly
***** - EdFringe Review
***** Everything Theatre
**** - The List
**** - Broadway Baby
**** - Edinburgh Festivals Magazine
**** - UK Theatre Web
**** - ScotsGay
**** - Fringe Biscuit
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“Physical theatre at its high-octane best” - Edinburgh Festivals Magazine (For ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’).
“Quite simply, a joy" - Broadway Baby? (For ‘Our Man in Havana’).
“One of the most impressive hours of the fringe” - The List (For ‘Woyzeck’).
“A truly astounding work of theatre” - Voice Magazine (For ‘Woyzeck’).
The poetry of Roger McGough explodes from the page to the stage in this fantastical circus and puppetry adventure where pigs fly and the sky is in the pie. Join a day-dreaming boy for one amazing day where he discovers the extra-ordinary in the ordinary wherever he goes.
The Feathers of Daedalus Circus have teamed up with celebrated author and poet Roger McGough for this new wonderfully wacky children’s production inspiring young and old to fall in love with poetry. With circus, physical theatre, puppetry and projection, the Feathers explore fun and fantastical ways to play with poetry, dipping into works from Roger’s 50 year career topped up with new poems especially created for the show.
A day so ordinary. Or one quite extraordinary? For what day is ever ordinary in the eyes of a daydreamer? Setting off for his first day at school he discovers a plague around in the playground. He meets the girl who became a book, and the boy who was born to bugle. He finds a domesticated donkey, a sound collector and a blue macaw in a drawer. At home he eagerly awaits a well deserved dinner, but there is a sky in the pie. Mother’s done it again! He lies down to sleep, rests his head on his catapillow, dreams of a school for ghouls, a rolling meatball, spelling bees and everything in between.
The Feathers of Daedalus Circus are known for ambitious multi-disciplinary circus productions having created shows with amazing circus mixed with spoken word, live music, collage, film and projections. We are always looking for new collaborators so we are very excited to be using puppetry alongside circus and poetry to lead you through our fantastical adventure. You will be intrigued, amused and amazed by the Sky in the Pie and through it we hope you will learn or re-learn a love of poetry.
Society puts a lot of pressure on Fat Girl. All she wants to do is be with her soulmate Pizza. Instead, her mother signs her up for the reality show The Only Way Is Pretty. What will happen to Pizza when Fat Girl meets Hot Boy?
Big by Urvashi Bohra is a personal ode to pizzas and body positivity.
Why is the ‘free world’ obsessed with walls ?<br/>A unique fusion of poetry, satire, reportage, multimedia and traveller’s diary, Closed Lands traces the history of modern walls - real and metaphorical - from Berlin to Mexico to Europe. <br/>Beginning in 1989 with the euphoria for the fall of the wall - "the end of shame", as it was described - it moves in space and time to Mexico, the Sahara desert, and the wall of water surrounding "Fortress Europe", ending with the wall of bureaucracy faced by asylum seekers.<br/>LegalAliens' powerful and evocative production features the cast rotating through the roles of migrant, politician, citizen, CEO and a VIP bot, all part of a perverse and random mechanism. A live camera projects part of the action on screen, as our lives become increasingly part of a gigantic video game in which even the most dramatic situations - boats crossing the Med, border control techniques, the selling of weapons - can be sold to the public as glamorous products. <br/>Based on factual research and testimonies, and performed by actors who are all migrants in the UK, Closed Lands chronicles the "Free world's" obsession with walls and our journey back to shame. <br/>This is the English premiere of Closed Lands (Terres Closes), by award-winning playwright Simon Grangeat and performed by an all female international cast. <br/>Presented in co-production with Exchange Theatre and part of "Migrations Harbour Europe", an ACE funded project to promote plays from across the continent focusing on migrant voices and experiences in a non cliched and theatrically original manner.
"Dad's getting married again. A second wife. As in, in addition to his first. <br/>(We were shocked too)."<br/>This is a gripping story about two sisters in the run up to their dad's marriage, as they rehearse the traditional Nigerian dance he's asked them to perform, all the while navigating the complexities that come with lies, love and bigamy. <br/>It explores what happens when religion and culture collide, under the spotlight of a family in crisis, and the things people do to try and survive.<br/>This thought-provoking play was developed as part of the VAULT Festival New Writers’ Programme 2019, led by Camilla Whitehill, and showcased during VAULT Festival 2019 in a sold-out show.<br/>She Is A Place Called Home is partnering with Solace Women's Aid, an innovative and grass roots charity that supports women and children who have experienced domestic and sexual violence to build safe and strong lives. After each performance, we will be holding a collection of donations and toiletries on Solace's behalf. Any contributions will be very appreciated.
Patrick Healy is doing an hour of stand-up comedy, or a Work In Progress, as they say in the biz. <br/>He's not entirely sure what it's about yet, but he'll have an idea by the time the show comes around. It'll probably be a bit silly with some dry humour in there, and will hopefully "ha(ve) the crowd in stitches" (Wee Review). Come along to see the "idiosyncratic worldview" (London Evening Standard) of this So You Think You're Funny and New Act of the Year Finalist in action!
"What do you do when the love of your life breaks up with you? You get HAMMERED!" <br/>Maddy's world might be falling apart but that won't stop her dancing. In this one-woman retelling of Medea, 21-year-old Maddy has the whole world at her feet. She is sassy, beautiful, and lives for her nights out on the dance floor. When her fiancée leaves her for another woman, however, she finds herself stranded thousands of miles away from home without anywhere to turn. As her desperation increases, she begins to realise that she is rapidly spiralling out of control. <br/>With her life slowly coming apart at the seams, what will Maddy do next?
Failed love, crippling debt and living with an angry 83-year-old. Not exactly what Maria had in mind when she left LA for the UK. ‘A slick, gag-driven US-approach’ (Chortle.co.uk). ‘A charming, engaging storyteller’ (BroadwayWorld.com). ‘I love Maria Shehata, she is funny on an off stage.’ (Bill Burr).
“I regret that you have been in bed, though not with me”<br/>Through carefully crafted letters that are awaited with anticipation, Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf begin an exquisite romance. Filled with sharp intelligence, wit and elegance, both iconic women’s letters conquer each other’s hearts through carefully chosen words inked onto a page - luckily, their husbands don’t mind. <br/>“You’re the first person I’ve seen on this app which isn’t posing with a dog, a baby, or in your bra.”<br/>In the overwhelmingly tangled world of dating apps Mia and Lottie meet online. Flirting through the beam of a phone screen, they navigate many challenges, including kiss politics - two x’s or three? When an emoji can change not just the tone of the conversation but the entire meaning of what you write, reading between the lines takes on a whole new meaning. <br/>Brought to you by Sprezzatura Productions, V&V charts two narratives: the iconic love story of literary treasure Virginia Woolf and esteemed socialite Vita Sackville-West; and a far newer story of Lottie from Tunbridge Wells and love cynic Mia. Shortlisted for the Charlie Hartill Theatre Reserve 2019, V&V makes its debut at VAULT festival 2020.
"When I was 12 I told my father my favourite song was 'everything.' He replied "‘No! That’s too easy. You can't like everything, you need to be specific!" I was too embarrassed to tell him that 'Everything' was track 4 on the 1976 ‘A Star is Born’ Album."<br/>When Matt was young he idolised his father, but that didn't stop him leaving when he was 5 years old to start another family. At a loss for male role models, the precociously camp Matt turned to some alternate idols for support - Barbra, Shirley and Cher! Now as an adult, he's going to need those divas more than ever when he discovers that the half-brothers he's always sent Christmas presents to... have never been told he exists. Now, he needs to break the news to them that they've got an older brother, but can he reconcile his love of glitter and show tunes with his sport-loving, laddish new family?<br/>A fabulous comedy cabaret musical play from the creators of the cult hits Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho and Margaret Thatcher Queen of Game Shows about absent fathers, family secrets, brothers who've never met and Barbra Streisand. <br/>Written by Directed by Olivier Award-winner Jon Brittain (Rotterdam, A Super Happy Story About Feeling Super Sad, Baby Reindeer).
Welcome to an ocean full of plastic, giant squid, and opportunity.
Simon & Trixie work in a submersible mining station at the bottom of the sea. Their relationship is falling to pieces, but they can deal with that later. They just don’t want to be left behind in the climate crisis.
Every day, they dig up rare earth minerals which the planet needs for green batteries, electric cars, and new mobile phones. No one said going green would be easy.
It’s business as usual until they meet Archie – a giant squid. The loveable cephalopod has a lot to say about the big holes Simon and Trixie keep making in his home.
Kraken is a classic (and the only) underwater climate crisis capitalist-cephalopod romance. It’s a story about monsters, and what (or who) we’re prepared to throw away. It’s about going green but hurting the world around you. It’s about keeping up with catastrophe. It’s about wanting to love your planet, but not knowing how.
First and foremost, this is a play about what happens when a giant squid just might be your best friend. Or life partner.
“Everybody loves a show!” declares Annie Londonderry - the real-life Bostonian immigrant who, in 1894, accepted a wager to cycle around the world. And with this striking, fast-paced, thoughtful new musical, Bottle Cap Theatre deliver a show indeed. On the face of it, it’s a story of feminist empowerment - a celebration of a woman who had the confidence and chutzpah to out-balls the men. But there’s a flip-side to that brassiness. Given all that she’d genuinely achieved, why did she feel driven to tell so many outright lies?
Read the full review.
One woman. One bicycle. One hell of a story.<br/>It’s 1895 and 24 year old Annie Londonderry has returned victorious to America, hailed as the first woman ever to cycle around the world.<br/>She’s pioneering, she’s plucky, and she's pitching her story to the New York World. But as she shares her adventures, the cracks begin to show, and she's forced to confront a past she'd rather leave unexplored. <br/>RIDE is the incredible true story of a young woman with big plans, and an even bigger imagination, from the award-winning team behind VAULT sell-out THE LIMIT (***** FringeGuru).
"We were eighteen years old, and just learning to love the world and being in it, and then we had to shoot it to bits."<br/>Following an international tour, the multi-award nominated and award winning Incognito Theatre Company return to VAULT Festival with their critically celebrated adaptation of Erich Remarque’s tale, exposing the harrowing reality of trench warfare. <br/>Told through the eyes of five classmates, this adaptation is gripping and unyielding in its treatment of the visceral brutality of war, an honesty that lends itself to Incognito Theatre’s unapologetically explosive physical style. 'All Quiet on the Western Front' focuses on the harsh physical reality of this violent world from the perspective of the German forces, intercut with the vulnerability of human experience. An exploration of raw humanity and the power of brotherhood in the face of total bleakness, Incognito's 'All Quiet on the Western Front' exposes the personal sacrifices that were made for the sake of the Great War. <br/>Three Weeks ***** "Enthralling, moving and fundamentally, beautifully human."
“Load in the world.” <br/>Player 1, Aiden, is sixteen, autistic, and loves video games. They can be repeated, mastered and controlled. But what happens if the game starts to glitch? In this interactive video game musical the audience take control and help Aiden navigate STAGES.<br/>Playable characters include: Ellie, Aiden’s sibling, who’s stuck deciding on which avatar to select. Owen, Aiden’s dad, who hovers over the restart button. Alice, Aiden’s mum, who faces her greatest challenge, the final boss.<br/>Featuring an original electronic 8-bit soundtrack and arcade style graphics, STAGES by Christian Czornyj examines what happens when the code of our lives is rewritten and the way the digital world interacts with our own. It is a bold new British musical that has to be played to be experienced.
This is a show about work.
But the worker isn’t here, so it’s down to you.<br/>You’ll clock in at the beginning.
You’ll get short breaks at regular intervals.
You’ll work in a team, and under your own initiative. <br/>You will be your own boss.
You will be free.<br/>work.txt is a show performed entirely by the audience. A show that explores the gig economy, financial instability and automation.<br/>14+
Supported by Arts Council England
Thump. James Corden hears a thump coming from underneath his chat-show desk. Thump. This is not a stand-up show. Thump. But it is performed by my stand-up comedy persona. Thump. I understand that's confusing. Thump. I hope you enjoy it. Thump. "full of unexpected twists and turns" 4**** - The Scotsman. Thump. "baffling and daring" 4**** - BroadwayBaby. Thump. "His real name is Luke Smith" - Chortle. Thump. Thump. Love. Thump. Thump. Sex. Thump. Thump. Death. Thump. Thump. The Desk.
Remember when the comedian was the weird loner who reflected the oddest parts of society back at the audience, rather than someone who wanted to present a baking show? Well Danielle Ward is reclaiming outsider status as someone estranged from the comedy industry. Part stand-up show, part tragic theatre. All business. <br/>Danielle Ward is the host of awarding podcast panel show Do The Right Thing and political comedy podcast Any Stupid Questions. A season writer for TV, radio and theatre, her last production at VAULTS was sell-out comitragedy THE HALF. "Ward's script is masterful" **** The Scotsman.
What makes a strong woman? Mother, maid and crone are trying to find the answer. They knew this once... It’s on the tip of their tongues... Maybe the stories we once told each other will hold the key... <br/>Heroine is a storytelling show seeking to answer the important questions: <br/>How to find love when you’re a skeleton who lives under the sea.
Why it’s important to keep secrets when you’ve accidentally married a hyena.
How to fight giants and gain financial security.
How to literally become the sun.
Oh. And what even is a Heroine anyway? <br/>With stories from all across the world, including Nigeria, Mexico and the Arctic - join us for an evening celebrating our forgotten fairytale heroines.
You, the audience, have been cast in Big Show. Meet the team of professionals (played by Sami Abu Wardeh) who will guide you through rehearsals. As newly cast chorus members, you will complete the show and take it to new heights of artistic expression and financial gain.
After their award-nominated, sell-out run at VAULT Festival 2019, The LOL Word returns with a Coming Out Special! Join Chloe Green, Chloe Petts, Jodie Mitchell and double act Shelf as they present an hour of stand-up about that ancient queer ritual: coming out.<br/>This gang of best buds and rising comedy stars will have you hooting with laughter at VAULT, with a brand new show about all things queer. Get ready for a raucous, inclusive, relatable and joyful celebration of being a lesbian, queer, non-binary or bisexual (while we collectively process our trauma, of course).<br/>Tickets for last year's Prom Special sold fast and they were nominated for the coveted After Dark award, so grab a date or your mates and get tickets, quick!<br/>As seen at Soho Theatre, Southbank Centre, London Pride, Latitude, Bestival, Gilded Balloon. As seen in the Guardian, the Independent, Time Out, and seen on BBC3, Pink News and LADBible. Sell-out run at Edinburgh Fringe 2017, 2018, 2019.<br/>“Hilarious, slick and smart ... it’s refreshing and revitalising to watch: they are energetic and exciting, oozing with passion." - Guardian
"My favourite comedy club in London" - Sofie Hagen
"Fierce, fiery and every so funny" - Broadway Baby
"Smart, insightful and completely relatable" - DIVA
It’s empty. All of it. The whole building. The Foxtons lady didn’t mention that, did she?
146 fully furnished flats and all of them completely empty. Except for... <br/>Jay has just bought his first home: a luxury apartment in the newly refurbished 60s Brutalist masterpiece, Balfron Tower.<br/>But he soon discovers he’s literally the only person in the entire building. All the other flats are empty, bought up by wealthy Russian oligarchs and Beijing businessmen.<br/>He is completely alone.<br/>Until he discovers he isn’t.<br/>Someone – or something – still haunts the corridors of Balfron Tower.
__________<br/>Ghost House is a 21st century ghost story set against the skyline of modern London and the contemporary housing crisis.<br/>High Rise meets The Woman In Black in this chilling tale of urban loneliness, isolation and fear.
Steve is ?ne. No really, he’s grand. He’s a lad. He’s always been a lad — one of the lads. But the lads have changed and Steve feels like an endangered species. The last of his kind. With nobody to talk to.<br/>But there's one lad left. His lad. And his lad... talks back.<br/>Following a sold-out run in Dublin in 2019, the company behind If We Got Some More Cocaine I Could Show You How I Love You returns to VAULT Festival with this balls-to-the-wall new comedy. <br/>Thomas Martin (Collapsible; Flights; If We Got Some More Cocaine; Ross & Rachel) directs this cheeky two-hander by Rhys Dunlop and Alan Mahon.<br/>"One Duck Theatre’s fast-paced production is brimming with imaginative touches from director Thomas Martin... Both performances are excellent... this is a company and a production that deserves to be seen." - No More Workhorse (Ireland).<br/>Written and performed by Rhys Dunlop and Alan Mahon
Director Thomas Martin
Lighting Designer Cillian McNamara
Sound Designer Ekatarina Solomatina
Movement Consultant Bryan Burroughs
Set design the company
Set Builder Stephen Lockhart
Five-star sell-out show Edinburgh Fringe 2017-2019 and VAULT Festival 2017-2019.
Netflix combines the taste profiles of 98 million users to create a perfectly ideal viewing experience...
Notflix combines the taste profiles of a room full of theatre go-ers to create a brilliantly hilarious and completely improvised viewing experience – a full musical.
The all-female cast of ‘Notflix’ use audience suggestions to create a brand new, fully improvised, one-night-only musical. Every show is different but what remains is the same joyous, musical celebration of everything you wish a movie could be.
Because everything is better as a musical!
Featured in Sunday Times, Marie Claire and Elle Magazines. Funny Women and Musical Comedy Awards nominees.
***** “Notflix might very well be the best show you see this year, and the year after, and hopefully forever” Broadway Baby
**** “Professional, fun and effortlessly funny” The Observer
**** “Surprising, spontaneous and delightful” Fringe Biscuit
Isma is British multiculturalism at its best. In About a Buoy – Adventures in Adoption, her preconception-shattering, down-to-earth and engaging style, explores transracial adoption, gender, religion, sexuality, race, one homophobic Muslim mother and Freddie Mercury. As seen on BBC Asian Network Comedy and BBC Two's The Big Asian Stand-Up. ‘A one-woman antidote to Islamophobia' (Leeds Guide). ‘A natural at teasing out the underlying humour from real-life stories’ (Chortle.co.uk). ‘One of the most original and charming circuit comedians’ (BroadwayBaby.com).
No-one who enters the labyrinth ever returns.<br/>Theseus searches deep underground for the terrible Minotaur. Ariadne must decide where her loyalties lie. Daedalus and Icarus are trapped, desperate to escape. As the story unravels, revealing the choices each make, do we control our destinies or are they entirely in the hands of the three Fates?<br/>Follow the thread and join the cast of Airealism deep in the labyrinth as the Fates weave their tale inspired by Greek myths using aerial circus & physical theatre.
Lucy & Freya are developing new material!<br/>Lucy presents Tenderhooks. <br/>Freya is bad at lots of things. This is a list of the things she is bad at.
Each show will be different as Brent would takes you from being woed by him to being wed to him. Together we will take a journey into the lurid and desire filled mind of a drag king, who longs to get it right but so often gets it wrong. This Essex lad has a love of music and has written some original sexy pieces and will even create some for you in front of your very eyes via the medium of improv. It all culminates in a game show - where you can win a date with the man himself. Score! <br/>There are interactive elements, but Brent never picks on anyone and there will be colour coded stickers at the door to indicate your comfort levels.
Dream job, huge fanbase, and in a committed relationship with a hunky dancing bear. Everything was going right for the bearded lady; until her secret came out... <br/>Appropriating Leonardos from da Vinci to DiCaprio, a gender bending journey and joyful f*ck you to a world that asks people to hide or change who they are.<br/>'Brilliantly understated comic... with the punk spirit of Deborah Harry & the Sex Pistols.’ The Scotsman<br/>Theodora van der Beek makes performances that challenge the gender binary and explore the mechanics of power & privilege. She is supported by the Arts Council and part of the Soho Theatre Young Company.
Character Comedians Graham Dickson and Freya Slipper present: 'Party' and 'Cooking with Lamb': Works in Progress
Two men have a fated encounter in the street. An elderly woman wants to take her own life. A holiday romance goes sour, and a PR girl tries to solve a murder. In four semi-true stories of love, death and the healing power of disco, a group of uniquely 21st century mourners deal with joy, grief and sacrifice.
(Wo)men Rule Broadway [West End Edition] is a night of singing, full choreography (with surprises!), and a live band. We're singing and performing songs originally written for men. At the heart of our energetic and jam-packed programme, we are going to be exploring roles that are not typically written for women, challenging societal views and expectations of how women are cast, and bucking the system of how women are historically expected to behave. This show is not about proving that "women can hang with/be just like men," but rather to show that women, like men, are fully complex human beings with more inside of us than what society has given us permission to show.<br/>Featuring a wide array of songs from across the musical theatre songbooks, we're here for 2 performances ONLY!