The FringeGuru guide to the VAULT Festival on on Sunday 16 February

Misunderstood, neglected and under-reported, Northern Ireland is just across the water but feels a million miles away.<br/>Set in contemporary Northern Ireland, The 4th Country looks at the ways in which global political decisions impact the lives of ordinary people. Most of the stories that inspired The 4th Country only earned a single article in the British press. As old wounds heal, and new ones open, we see the extraordinary changes facing Northern Ireland through the lives of ordinary people.

Big Bones. Even Bigger Adventure!<br/>Inspired by the true story of the Irish Giant, this brand new family show is created by the team behind One Duck Down, winner of Family Show of The Year, VAULT Festival 2018. Come join the circus!<br/>Little Nora thinks she is all alone in the world...and is thrilled to find she is the long lost grand daughter of Big Bones, the founder of the Big Bones Big Top Circus who are in town that week! <br/>But this circus is in deep trouble, under the spell of a dreadful curse that has blighted them for 100 years. They haven’t had a single audience member since Big Bone’s humongous skeleton was snatched and put on display in a museum against his dying wishes.
Can Nora break the curse, save the circus and keep her new family together? <br/>Big Bones features puppetry, original songs, an all female cast, a psychic octopus and a daring museum heist for the ages.
Big Bones is a humerus tale which celebrates that friends can be the family that we choose, and shows us that the things that make us different; are really the things that make us magic.<br/>Praise for previous show One Duck Down: <br/> ‘A funny family show with a beautiful message'
***** The Upper Circle<br/>‘Impossible for the whole family not to enjoy’
***** The Spy in the Stalls

About eating disorders. But funny. And informative? Mainly funny. <br/>Take a look inside the brain of someone with an eating disorder and get to know Oddball on her own terms, as she tries to behave like a normal person on a date. Easy. It is in a restaurant though. Restaurants have food. And other people. Food and people. She might pull her skin off with pliers. That's normal, right?<br/>Musical Comedy Awards Finalist, Francesca Forristal “uses humour as a feminist weapon” (The Sunday Times) in this disarmingly candid exploration of the messier elements of eating disorders and NHS inpatient care, based on lived experience. <br/>This one woman show show uses sound-design, silliness, and zero respect for the 4th wall. All Oddball has to do is deconstruct every toxic preconception society has about eating disorders - in 60 mins. Piece of cake... Wait.<br/>Directed by Micha Mirto
Sound Design by Jordan Clarke
Original music by Forristal and Clarke

Join us, farmers, David and Sam, under the watchful eye of our rumbustious Gran, as we courteously portray to you our untold and epic adventures right here at VAULT Festival, in the flesh, in Waterloo.<br/>We don't promise facts. We don't even promise to get to the end of the show but we do so solemnly pledge a kaleidoscope of physical debauchery, completely chaotic magic and a unique little love story with a Cow. ALL of which is delivered with the best showmanship we can muster. Which is loads. So bring your Granny and all your family because this is a play for big kids and other adults.<br/>There's nothing to fear and nothing to lose 'cause Granny Barbs will be there and she always keeps us on the straight and narrow. Always.

How I became a woman. A period piece. With songs.<br/>“I have always loved fairytales. My favourite film ever was Beauty and the Beast until we learnt about Stockholm Syndrome in PSHE”.<br/>Bicycles and Fish is Katie’s debut one woman show about the day she stopped being a girl and became a woman. Combining comedy, storytelling and original songs Katie is about to learn what it means to stand up for herself.<br/>Winner of Show of the Week at VAULT Festival 2018.<br/>Part One of the It's A Girl! trilogy. <br/>Catch Katie's other shows at VAULT 2020 as she presents three shows together for the first time on 16th February. Three. Because that's how trilogies work.<br/>https://vaultfestival.com/search/?term=katie+arnstein<br/>It's A Girl! is supported by Pleasance Futures, Redbridge Drama Centre and using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

When the guns are silent and the peace treaty is signed it is only then that we see the true legacy of any conflict. Annawon's Song is a multi media, drama which tells the story of a Native American military veteran who returns from the Afghanistan war wounded both in body and mind. His story is twinned with that of a young Afghani orphan who is being groomed to be a suicide bomber, a nameless casualty of a terrible conflict. <br/>Both stories are haunted by the massacre of Wounded Knee, a massacre which took place in America in the late 1800's, carried out by the American army, in the wake of the mystical movement of the Ghost Dancers which swept the American plains. Annawon's Song highlights the fact that the most likely legacy of any war is simply more conflict. <br/>Annawon's Song was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon award and the Sundance Theatre lab. Its directed by Murray Woodfield and written by Beverly Andrews who was recipient of the 2017 Roland Rees Playwright Bursary.

"So I figured if McDonald's can call itself a restaurant, I can call myself an actor".<br/>Ever since Katie was cast as the lead in her primary school Christmas show "Santa's Snow Mobile" she believed there was a place for her in show business. Since then named, speaking and fully clothed roles have been hard to come by... <br/>Sexy Lamp, winner of Show of the Week and Pleasance Pick at VAULT 2019, brilliantly combines comedy, original songs and storytelling to shed a bright light on how ridiculous the industry can be and why Katie is refusing to stay in the dark.<br/>Part Two of the It's A Girl! trilogy. <br/>Catch Katie's other shows at VAULT 2020 as she presents three shows together for the first time on 16th February. Three. Because that's how trilogies work.<br/>https://vaultfestival.com/search/?term=katie+arnstein<br/>It's A Girl! is supported by Pleasance Futures, Redbridge Drama Centre and using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

- "What do you think they’ll say?"
- "Whatever it is, it’ll all be wrong."
- "Maybe. We’re the most famous people alive right now."
- "Right now. Yes."<br/>A spacecraft approaches Mars. They are The First.
Back on Earth, two writers compose two speeches. One if the mission succeeds. And another...<br/>When things start to go wrong aboard just days away from the Red Planet, astronauts Rose and Simeon are faced with the prospect of being more alone than any two humans in history.
Meanwhile, experienced political hack Marcus and celebrated screenwriter Aisha must find the words to summarise a feat bigger than words, and a disaster that may never happen.<br/>From writer Barry McStay (Vespertilio - Show of the Week, VAULT 2019) and directed by x2 FRINGE FIRST Winner Emily Jenkins (Bobby And Amy - also won Show of the Week, VAULT 2019). THE FIRST is a new play about tragedy, heroism and imperfection.<br/>Praise for Barry McStay
VESPERTILIO
Lyn Gardner, StageDoor - "This is such a pleasure"
The Irish Times - "Wistfully charming...effortlessly engaging"<br/>Praise for Emily Jenkins
BOBBY AND AMY
The Stage - "She directs the show almost like a ballet, with lithe and tireless physicality from the two superb performers Will Howard and Kimberley Jarvis"
Fest Mag - "The raw simplicity of the staging of writer and director Emily Jenkins' play allows the breadth of feeling and imagery to breathe and come to life"

Tinted is a revolutionary disabled response to the #metoo hashtag. Staged as accessibly as possible and written by disabled playwright Amy Bethan Evans (Libby's Eyes, BBC Access Room, Kudos Fellowship shortlist and producer of Access Platform) Tinted is the debut full-length monologue from Scripped Up, championing D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent writers.

What would happen if you took a journey through history, opened the door and asked the woman what she thought? Saw? Felt? Believed? <br/>What would happen if that woman was the daughter of a King, the last King of Deheubarth? A woman who caused a civil war because of her beauty alone? Heard of her? Maybe. You're about to! Told by jesters through song, dance and rhyme, this is a tale of Nesta Ferch Rhys, the Welsh Princess who bewitched Kings, Princes and courts. A woman of true Welsh blood. A woman with a story to tell. <br/>Nest follows the life of a Princess whose story has been lost in history. A woman who had such power and no way in which to use it. The legend of Nesta's beauty still echoes but her story is much more enchanting than just beauty itself! <br/>Come follow our jesters in this musical tale of love, war, history, Wales and women.

Bonnie Feckter is a work in progress solo show. <br/>It's about the way we record ourselves, what we choose to record, how we record it, and the things that can't really be recorded at all - like the day-to-day moments that go by. <br/>It's sort of about archives. <br/>There will be characters and invisible characters and scenes that explore what it's like to just be normal. And also, hopefully, some dancing and filing cabinets. <br/>Things said about previous work:<br/>“An impressive range and ability to become different characters... a joy to watch”
- Scotsman
“Uncanny, intense and brilliantly entertaining... I am instantly entranced"
- FringeReview
“Unravelling narratives that become unnervingly realistic.... you’ll find technique and emotion in equal measure"
-Stage

"You think you're the only person that's ever felt like this? What makes you so special?<br/>Lou has a problem.
Lou is a problem.
She's moody. Impulsive. Unstable. A pain in the arse.
Her mental illness won't fit into an inspirational story of redemption. She doesn't eat enough kale. She doesn't do enough yoga.
Why can't she just be happy?<br/>When an act of desperation brings her into conflict with her family and friends, Lou starts to wonder where her mental illness ends and she begins. Played by an inclusive and eclectic ensemble of actors, Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands follows Lou as she tries to make sense of her condition and her place in the world.<br/>Melissa Dunne's inky black comedy explores mental health in a world that prefers easy answers to uncomfortable truths. Included in Lyn Gardner's 'Top Picks of VAULT Festival'.<br/>Produced by Papercut Theatre who brought the acclaimed Lola and Dangerous Lenses to Vault Festival 2019.

The song ‘Mr Brightside’ hasn't left the UK charts in 16 years. How did it end up like this? It was only a hit, it was only a hit. <br/>Tim and Hannah come across a viral video of an Irish bar singing ‘Mr Brightside’ to their recently departed friend. Reading online comments they uncover a series of stories of incredible people who are all celebrated by those around them - all united by one song. Tim, Hannah and the audience conduct an investigation into the chart-busting phenomena, taking them from that small Irish bar to a karaoke booth in Nevada and back to an English Students Union bathroom. Combining karaoke and fun audience interactions with on-stage explorations into how this song touched the world and became an anthem for millions and giving you an unashamedly good night out in the process.

Misunderstood, neglected and under-reported, Northern Ireland is just across the water but feels a million miles away.<br/>Set in contemporary Northern Ireland, The 4th Country looks at the ways in which global political decisions impact the lives of ordinary people. Most of the stories that inspired The 4th Country only earned a single article in the British press. As old wounds heal, and new ones open, we see the extraordinary changes facing Northern Ireland through the lives of ordinary people.

'My mum threw a trifle at my best friend and that's when I first thought something was probably wrong.' <br/>Izzy’s mum isn’t very happy which means, a lot of the time, Izzy isn’t very happy. Her best friend says she should probably talk to someone about it. So she does. <br/>LOVE (Watching Madness) is a fast paced, poignant and painful celebration of mums, daughters and the strength of a child’s love in the face of tough odds. A heart wrenching and hilarious autobiographical one-woman show about the relentless journey of caring for someone who can’t always show that they care for you. <br/>"This is a show for everyone: mums, daughters and all in between." (EdFest Magazine)<br/>LOVE (Watching Madness) was developed with the John Thaw Mental Health Initiative at The Actors Centre and has since been performed to sell out audiences across London and Norwich. SpeakUp Theatre return from their award nominated, critically acclaimed 5 star run at the Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

A queer British-Muslim romantic comedy. <br/>Adham is a silent and brooding middle-aged tragedy, standing outside a Mosque in North London. Waiting. It’s raining. Tea, an umbrella, and friendship arrive.<br/>Two years later Adham’s boss invites him on holiday to “set him up”. Panic-stricken and wanting to bat away her advances he fabricates a husband, but when the plan backfires he’s got to convince someone to act the part... Who best but his Imam and absolutely platonic friend Raushan? The rest is what you’d expect: a call to adventure in the Alps, a quarrel, and a sweet queer love story that ends in gardening gloves. <br/>Nemo Martin’s [The Cobbled Streets of Geneva] is a warm queer romantic comedy about how role-playing new lives might bring us closer to who we really are. <br/>Praise:<br/>“It is a gentling of story, a caretaking of truths that invites revelation, and the result is utterly beautiful.” - Jenifer Toksvig.

It’s a culture clash, told through the lens of a Nigerian chef and her Ghanaian fiancé. Historically, Africans have debated who makes the tasty dish best. The question is... what’s really at stake?<br/>The play starts in familiar settings but things suddenly go left when we realise how deep the tension surrounding food goes. Its surreal yet accurate. Funny but tragic. Sad but true! Come and get your fill at Jollof Wars.

About eating disorders. But funny. And informative? Mainly funny. <br/>Take a look inside the brain of someone with an eating disorder and get to know Oddball on her own terms, as she tries to behave like a normal person on a date. Easy. It is in a restaurant though. Restaurants have food. And other people. Food and people. She might pull her skin off with pliers. That's normal, right?<br/>Musical Comedy Awards Finalist, Francesca Forristal “uses humour as a feminist weapon” (The Sunday Times) in this disarmingly candid exploration of the messier elements of eating disorders and NHS inpatient care, based on lived experience. <br/>This one woman show show uses sound-design, silliness, and zero respect for the 4th wall. All Oddball has to do is deconstruct every toxic preconception society has about eating disorders - in 60 mins. Piece of cake... Wait.<br/>Directed by Micha Mirto
Sound Design by Jordan Clarke
Original music by Forristal and Clarke

Ask Me Anything
Created & Presented by The Paper Birds
Co-Produced with Live Theatre
Music by Rosie Doonan<br/>A loud, live, love song, to not having it all figured out.<br/>We asked young people, living in today’s world of mobile phones and google, to write to us and ask us anything. Nothing was off limits. We received over 100 letters from young people across the UK. This show is our reply.<br/>Inspired by the magazine problem pages we read growing up in the 90s and 00s (anyone remember Smash Hits?!), in Ask Me Anything The Paper Birds become the agony aunts. The show explores what young people think, want and worry about today and what different generations can learn from each other.<br/>Ask Me Anything is a new, immersive theatrical experience, from multi-award winners The Paper Birds, whose previous shows include Mobile, Thirsty and In a Thousand Pieces.<br/>Set in our teenage 90s and 00s bedrooms, Ask Me Anything features cutting edge digital artistry, The Paper Birds' unique brand of mischief and mayhem, and original live music from celebrated singer-songwriter Rosie Doonan.<br/>This is a show for teenagers, parents, grandparents, and everyone in between, who, like us, are still figuring it all out. <br/>So, take off your shoes, pull up a cushion, and come on in.

Tinted is a revolutionary disabled response to the #metoo hashtag. Staged as accessibly as possible and written by disabled playwright Amy Bethan Evans (Libby's Eyes, BBC Access Room, Kudos Fellowship shortlist and producer of Access Platform) Tinted is the debut full-length monologue from Scripped Up, championing D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent writers.

This is the show that seeks to unearth lost cultural treasures and works of performance
art, and restore them to you, the grateful public. Deleted scenes from the vaults of
Martin Scorsese. Forgotten plays from Tennessee Williams. Virginia Wolf's diary?
Maybe. Some Ballet? Sure, why not. Cultural curios from avant-garde artists you've never heard of but definitely, maybe existed? Almost certainly. <br/>3 special guest acts will improvise these hilarious never-before-or-ever-again-seen artefacts, presented with aplomb by Important Art host, Graham Dickson.<br/>This show is one of a series of hit improv shows presented by The Free Association in a two-week VAULT takeover. Other shows include Jacuzii, SORRY, The Nearly News Show, The Badge: An Improvised Cop Show, The Nearly News Show, Starry Starry Eyes, RAD Party, LGBTQFA and Minority Report. Book two for £15 or three for £20 as part of The Free Association Package Deal.

- "What do you think they’ll say?"
- "Whatever it is, it’ll all be wrong."
- "Maybe. We’re the most famous people alive right now."
- "Right now. Yes."<br/>A spacecraft approaches Mars. They are The First.
Back on Earth, two writers compose two speeches. One if the mission succeeds. And another...<br/>When things start to go wrong aboard just days away from the Red Planet, astronauts Rose and Simeon are faced with the prospect of being more alone than any two humans in history.
Meanwhile, experienced political hack Marcus and celebrated screenwriter Aisha must find the words to summarise a feat bigger than words, and a disaster that may never happen.<br/>From writer Barry McStay (Vespertilio - Show of the Week, VAULT 2019) and directed by x2 FRINGE FIRST Winner Emily Jenkins (Bobby And Amy - also won Show of the Week, VAULT 2019). THE FIRST is a new play about tragedy, heroism and imperfection.<br/>Praise for Barry McStay
VESPERTILIO
Lyn Gardner, StageDoor - "This is such a pleasure"
The Irish Times - "Wistfully charming...effortlessly engaging"<br/>Praise for Emily Jenkins
BOBBY AND AMY
The Stage - "She directs the show almost like a ballet, with lithe and tireless physicality from the two superb performers Will Howard and Kimberley Jarvis"
Fest Mag - "The raw simplicity of the staging of writer and director Emily Jenkins' play allows the breadth of feeling and imagery to breathe and come to life"

Bostonian comedian. Jew. Sweetheart. <br/>Alex Edelman’s first show, Millennial – about very traumatic stock photos and young people - won an Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer, the first show by an American to do so since 1997. The follow-up, Everything Handed to You - about identity and the availability of plug sockets in airports - was even more acclaimed: selling out its entire Edinburgh run and garnering the second-best reviews of any comedy show at the Festival. It was also filmed in its entirety for a special called Live at the BBC, which is currently available on Netflix.<br/>Just For Us is what comes next. Nominated for the Barry award at Melbourne International Comedy Festival, earning the prestigious Herald Angel award as well as being nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Show, it’s about gorillas that can-do sign language and tribalism. Come.

From the multi-award-winning team that bought you the "exquisite" (The List) Sexy Lamp and Bicycles and Fish... <br/>“The 2014 plan was a simple one, I would “Casanova” myself around our nation's capital looking for consenting heterosexual adult males. One no-frills lover-man for every month. I was the original calendar girl. Helen Mirren plays me in the film.” <br/>In 2014 Katie was very sexually active. She was also extremely depressed. Join her as she examines whether the two things are connected. <br/>A storytelling show with songs about sex, stigma and cystitis. <br/>Sticky Door is the third part in Katie Arnstein’s It’s a Girl! trilogy. <br/>Catch Katie's other shows at VAULT 2020 as she presents three shows together for the first time on 16th February. Three. Because that's how trilogies work.<br/>https://vaultfestival.com/search/?term=katie+arnstein<br/>Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Also supported by Pleasance Futures and Redbridge Drama Centre.

Bonnie Feckter is a work in progress solo show. <br/>It's about the way we record ourselves, what we choose to record, how we record it, and the things that can't really be recorded at all - like the day-to-day moments that go by. <br/>It's sort of about archives. <br/>There will be characters and invisible characters and scenes that explore what it's like to just be normal. And also, hopefully, some dancing and filing cabinets. <br/>Things said about previous work:<br/>“An impressive range and ability to become different characters... a joy to watch”
- Scotsman
“Uncanny, intense and brilliantly entertaining... I am instantly entranced"
- FringeReview
“Unravelling narratives that become unnervingly realistic.... you’ll find technique and emotion in equal measure"
-Stage

"You think you're the only person that's ever felt like this? What makes you so special?<br/>Lou has a problem.
Lou is a problem.
She's moody. Impulsive. Unstable. A pain in the arse.
Her mental illness won't fit into an inspirational story of redemption. She doesn't eat enough kale. She doesn't do enough yoga.
Why can't she just be happy?<br/>When an act of desperation brings her into conflict with her family and friends, Lou starts to wonder where her mental illness ends and she begins. Played by an inclusive and eclectic ensemble of actors, Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands follows Lou as she tries to make sense of her condition and her place in the world.<br/>Melissa Dunne's inky black comedy explores mental health in a world that prefers easy answers to uncomfortable truths. Included in Lyn Gardner's 'Top Picks of VAULT Festival'.<br/>Produced by Papercut Theatre who brought the acclaimed Lola and Dangerous Lenses to Vault Festival 2019.

Join Tom Lucy as he tests brand new material for an upcoming show. Star of Comedy Central and ITV. Tour support for Jack Whitehall and Aziz Ansari.
'Tom Lucy offers a sparkling mix of youth and slightly old-fashioned comedy' **** - Sunday Post
'Charismatic and extremely funny stand up show... wonderful new talent' - Scottish Sun
'Watch him live and you'll quickly understand the excitement' - Guardian

Carnival is rebellion, through rebellion we find joy. Caribbean people have a tendency to celebrate through hard times, and here we are - celebrating and trying to unpack what it means to be queer in a homophobic culture. It’s a carnival dance party littered with sad truths and joyful lies<br/>Welcome to SPLINTERED, the queer carnival party! Sprinkled with sad truths and joyful lies and based upon interviews with queer women in Trinidad & Tobago, this is a show unlike any other to grace the Edinburgh Fringe. Carnival is a celebration despite and in spite of oppression. How does one deal with coming out in a homophobic culture? With a party, duh. Expect a form-breaking, joy-inducing cabaret with plenty wining and a f*cktonne of glitter – “come free up yuhself”!<br/>Lagahoo Productions are a New Diorama Theatre Emerging Company 2019/20, and a Soho Theatre Young Company. SPLINTERED is Lagahoo’s inaugural show, and hope it can make a small but vital step in providing more space for Caribbean artists on British stages.<br/>SPLINTERED is generously supported by Arts Council England.

Critically-acclaimed and award-winning comic and maker-of-things Joz Norris (Comedians' Choice Award for Best Show 2019) spent 5 years trying to express a feeling at the centre of his head, and made a show in 2019 that finally achieved it and became one of the word-of-mouth hits of the Edinburgh Fringe.<br/>Now he's given voice to the feeling he always struggled to close his hand around, he has to figure out what to do next, and that's got him thinking about how we all figure out who we are. You build yourself either by adding, or by taking away. Joz has been adding for 30 years, and maybe it's time to start removing to see what's at the centre of it all.<br/>"You spend your life building the thing you think you are, then something happens that smashes it to bits." - Nick Cave<br/>"A beautifully fully-fleshed depiction of the human experience." - Shortcom
"A comedy legend." - To Do List
"One of the most joyously creative shows you will see this Fringe." - Young Perspective
One of the Guardian's Recommended Shows of EdFringe 2019.

In a world that continues to become more disconnected in human interaction... <br/>N A K E D is a time and a place for you to witness. When one thing leads to another and two bodies: separate, combine, fly, fall. <br/>N A K E D is about finding authentic expression within the self by breaking gender normalities through unconventional forms of movement and theatre, encouraging female strength and male fragility. <br/>N A K E D is a celebration of expression.<br/>N A K E D aims to inspire audiences to champion their individuality. <br/>N A K E D celebrates vulnerability and honesty. <br/>N A K E D Is the connection with music.<br/>N A K E D is friendship.

Rhubarb Ghetto is a raw, explosive story set in a graffiti-strewn underpass in London featuring the characters of Billy and Scarlet.<br/>Billy is a gang leader tying up loose ends before disappearing to escape the clutches of a mysterious character named Pavel. Scarlet is the mother of their 15-year-old child Alfie.<br/>Rhubarb Ghetto is an intimate portrayal of a relationship two decades in the making. It looks at choices and lost opportunities. It poses uncertain futures for the characters against the backdrop of life in London where rich and poor live side by side. It looks at the turf-war at the heart of the capital and the gentrification that has replaced council estates with hipsters, coffee culture, and urban allotments.<br/>Life in London can change dramatically in the length of a single underpass. Luxury flats on one side. Gangs and drugs on the other. <br/>Whichever side of the underpass we live on defines our choices and our future. But in the shadow of City Hall, we all live in the Rhubarb Ghetto.<br/>VAULT Festival 2020 will be the world premiere of Rhubarb Ghetto.

1969 at the Barrowlands Ballroom in Glasgow, three women are murdered by an Old Testament-quoting serial killer, later nicknamed Bible John. He has never been caught.<br/>In 2019, four temps discover they share a morbid obsession with true crime, and with one podcast in particular: a reinvestigation into the Bible John murders by American journalist Carrie LaRue. As their fascination takes hold, they immerse themselves into the world of 1960s Glasgow, in an attempt to solve the case once and for all.<br/>Bible John is partly a retelling of one of Scotland’s darkest unsolved crimes, but is more broadly an interrogation into the ethics of true crime as entertainment, and the reasons why women in particular are so hungry for stories that has the victimisation of other women at their heart. It’s a riotous, furious, joyful exploration into violence and gender, weaving film, movement, and text, from Charlie Hartill Recipients - THESE GIRLS.

When the guns are silent and the peace treaty is signed it is only then that we see the true legacy of any conflict. Annawon's Song is a multi media, drama which tells the story of a Native American military veteran who returns from the Afghanistan war wounded both in body and mind. His story is twinned with that of a young Afghani orphan who is being groomed to be a suicide bomber, a nameless casualty of a terrible conflict. <br/>Both stories are haunted by the massacre of Wounded Knee, a massacre which took place in America in the late 1800's, carried out by the American army, in the wake of the mystical movement of the Ghost Dancers which swept the American plains. Annawon's Song highlights the fact that the most likely legacy of any war is simply more conflict. <br/>Annawon's Song was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon award and the Sundance Theatre lab. Its directed by Murray Woodfield and written by Beverly Andrews who was recipient of the 2017 Roland Rees Playwright Bursary.

“Cara Vita: A Clown Concerto” is a solo physical theatre piece which explores the joys, sorrows, and hilarity of romance, relationships, and child-rearing. Created and performed by Felicity Hesed, this comedy offers a uniquely female perspective on the struggles of maintaining one’s identity in the midst of family life. “Cara Vita: A Clown Concerto” incorporates live music, circus, and magic to spin a whimsical tale of love and loss. Felicity Hesed is joined on stage by violinist Clare Armenante who creates an invigorating and masterful soundscape. Felicity Hesed developed this innovative and interactive show in collaboration with award-winning Director Jeff Raz. "Cara Vita" is both a deeply personal and universally human story. <br/> "...a hilarious, heartbreaking and sexy piece of clown theater." (Cirque du Soleil star, Jeff Raz)<br/>“Felicity Hesed is an absolute delight... thoughtfully, playfully, lovingly, joyfully taking us along for the ride.” -- Steve Smith (Emmy Award winner, Clown Hall of Fame inductee, and Big Apple Circus Director)<br/>“Felicity Hesed’s 'Cara Vita' is a cleverly crafted solo piece incorporating music, clowning and movement into one thoroughly entertaining show. Filled with fun surprises, Hesed’s sharp comic timing will keep you laughing and wondering what will come next. But underneath the silliness is an achingly sincere exploration of marriage and motherhood as seen through the eyes of an artist, asking a question that many can relate to: what happens to your art when life gets in the way?” -- Genie Cartier (Founder of Bow & Arrow Circus Theatre Collective)

The MMORPG Show made it’s debut at the 2016 Vault Festival where it won the Festival Spirit award and later garnering immense critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival.<br/>Since that time it has toured UK theatres and featured at many Conventions and Conferences as a fun exercise in world building and story telling.<br/>Up to three volunteers join Paul Flannery (Games Master extraordinaire) on stage and play as characters in a narrative that takes place in the crowds collective imaginations. The story and world are built by audience participation and the decisions of the characters rolled out on a large 20 sided dice (D20).<br/>The structure of the show can be manipulated to explore different types of narrative structures, interpersonal relationships or even tackle comfort zone expansion. In all cases though, after hundreds of shows, we can confirm there will always be puns and we’re fine with that.