VAULT Festival: Weeks One & Two
VAULT Festival 2020
You know we’re officially into the new year when we’re talking about VAULT Festival. Last year, VAULT showcased 428 different shows and this year seems even busier.
For those who don’t know, VAULT Festival is an eight week long festival in London, showcasing work across multiple art forms including theatre, comedy, cabaret to name a few. It is an incredibly creative festival and a great place to develop work in front of an audience to nurture new talent. The festival runs from Tuesday 28th January – Sunday 22nd March.
You should have a read about how the festival works, their cost breakdown and income revenue on their website: https://vaultfestival.com/about-us/. But here, we want to show off some of the work our alumni are producing at the festival this year…
Week One:
Body Talk
By Full Disclosure Theatre
Wednesday 29th January-Sunday 2nd February
Tickets USE CODE BODYTALK10 for 10% discount
Following the critically acclaimed Open in 2019 about a real-life gay couple and their open relationship, Full Disclosure Theatre return to VAULT Festival with a brand new play tackling the timely LGBTQ+ issue of male body image which asks if our desire to look perfect cuts more than skin-deep.
Carl is 21, skinny, afraid to come out and hates his body. Cameron is 30, has the classic Instagram body but can’t connect with the real world. Phil is fat and 40, which in gay years feels like life is already over. Toned, fat or skinny? Bodies can be a big part of a gay man’s world. But for Carl, Cameron and Phil having the ideal one matters a little too much.
Supported by Switchboard LGBT+ Helpline and Dean Street Fitness, in partnership with 56 Dean Street.
Producer: Sam Luffman, Bridge The Gap Producer 2019/20
Sam previously trained on StoneCrabs Young Directors Programme 2016/2017 and Tricycle Theatre’s Trainee Producer Programme 2016/2017. He is Artistic Director of Full Disclosure Theatre, a theatre company committed to exploring LGBTQ+ narratives. He is passionate about developing new writing and has staged work at Southwark Playhouse, VAULT Festival, Ovalhouse, the Albany, New Wimbledon Theatre, Omnibus Theatre, Hen and Chickens Theatre and Bread & Roses Theatre.
How has Stage One/the BTG programme helped you as a producer?
“Stage One Bridge the Gap programme has helped me expand my network and given me the support I need to access commercial producing. Through our monthly workshops my knowledge of commercial producing has grown massively; I’ve been able to apply the skills I’ve developed with producing to my current projects including Body Talk.”
Santi & Naz
By The Thelmas
Tuesday 28th January-Sunday 2nd February
Santi & Naz are best friends living in a small village in pre-partition India. Their story spans between 1945 & 1949. When Naz is betrothed to an older man, the threat of separation for the young women looms large on the horizon. As the political situation around partition worsens and violence erupts, they take drastic action. Santi & Naz explores childhood friendship, identity and loyalty set against the backdrop of a country soon to be changed forever.
New play by Guleraana Mir and Afshan D’souza-Lodhi, from award-winning company The Thelmas, makers of Ladykiller and Coconut.
Producer: Vikesh Godhwani, workshop participant 2017
Vikesh Godhwani is a freelance theatre producer, director and writer who graduated with an MA in Arts and Cultural Management from Kings College London. Vikesh worked as an assistant producer with multi-award winning China Plate during their 2018 Fringe run and beyond, the highlight being the autumn tour of Trying It On by David Edgar (Midlands Arts Centre, the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Royal Court).
Other producing credits include Mara by The New Victorians (The Vault Festival), Testament by Chalk Line Theatre (The Hope Theatre, Tobacco Factory, New Diorama and Home) and She Sells Sea Shells by Scandal and Gallows Theatre (Edinburgh Fringe).
Vikesh is currently a Stage One producer, is working with The Thelmas (associate producer) and Chalk Line Theatre (co-artistic director) on shows for this year’s Vault Festival as well as developing a musical in the dark with TeatruMalta. As part of Chalk Line theatre Vikesh is an Associate Artist at The Lion and Unicorn Theatre, London.
How has Stage One helped you in your career as a producer?
“Stage One gave me incredible practical knowledge on producing through the New Producers Workshop. The fact that the sessions were given by very successful commercial producers and that we were learning through looking at current examples of west-end productions, gave me an insight into how it’s actually done. This demystified the process, providing me with the confidence I needed to take the next step in my career.”
Ladylikes: Top Secret House Party
By Ladylikes
Wednesday 29th January-Friday 31st January
Shh! If you’re reading this, then you’ve been invited to Ladylikes Top Secret House Party! With all their friends getting engaged, promoted, pregnant and the odd OBE award, Miztli and Phoebe (AKA LADYLIKES) felt it was time to celebrate the chaotic joy of being lost in your twenties. Join them for a party like no other, as they delve into the world of hen-do nightmares, office party creeps, and misguided kids’ entertainers in a fabulous (and sometimes terrifying) exploration of what it means to be a modern-day party girl. So dust off your glad rags and gear up for an hour of sketch comedy featuring wacky characters, outlandish scenarios and a good dose of musical comedy from your BFFs-to-be!
Producer: Hannah Crawford, workshop participant 2019
Week Two:
Since U Been Gone
By Teddy Lamb & Ameena Hamid Productions Ltd.
Tuesday 4th February-Sunday 9th February
“He was a boy, she was a girl. Can I make it anymore binary?”
When friends die and pronouns change, what’s left of the memories that don’t fit anymore? An autobiographical account of growing up queer, the mid-noughties, and losing friends. Brought to life with storytelling, an original pop music score and way too many America’s Next Top Model references.
Producer: Ameena Hamid, Bridge The Gap Producer 2019/20:
Ameena is a creative producer and company director of Ameena Hamid Productions Ltd who focuses on produces new work that spotlights marginalised voices both on and offstage. Ameena has done courses with the National Theatre, RADA and Harvard and was one of EdFringe and British Council’s Emerging Producers for 2019.
How has Stage One/the BTG programme helped you as a producer?
“As part of the Bridge The Gap programme I have met so many producers and been able to expand my network, which continues to grow. I’ve been able to establish my company and its mission statement, beginning the move from the subsidised to the commercial sector with access to an amazing network through Stage One.”
Republic
By Upstart Theatre
Friday 7th February-Sunday 9th February
Tickets
It’s 2119 and the nation of Mars is finally free. This is a time for new leaders. How will you shape your future? A new interactive theatre game from critically-acclaimed political theatre company Upstart Theatre.
Upstart Theatre use live performance to kick-start conversations about the world we live in. Founded in 2008 by critically-acclaimed director Tom Mansfield, their work is always made collaboratively, and is playful, political, interactive and fourth-wall breaking, often using technology such as live-streaming.
Producer: Hannah Tookey, workshop participant 2014
Hannah is a theatre, film, audio and festivals producer making dynamic new work about contemporary social issues. She produces for Upstart Theatre and her own companies, Voxie Productions (theatre) and This Little Rock (film). Recent credits include DARE Festival (Upstart Theatre, Shoreditch Town Hall), The War of the Worlds (Rhum and Clay, New Diorama, ★★★★ Guardian, Observer), and Two by Two (BBC Arts). She is a Trustee for Imagine If Theatre Company and an MGCfutures bursary recipient.
How has Stage One helped you in your career as a producer?
“Stage One is a brilliant way to connect with other producers – there are so few opportunities as a freelancer to come together with other independent producers, and the friendship and connections I made on the workshop in 2014 still remain today.”
Patricia Gets Ready (for a date with the man that used to hit her)
By Martha Watson Allpress
Wednesday 5th February-Sunday 9th February
A one-woman show that presents an honest, funny and heartbreaking look at what it is to recover from trauma. The project is a personal narrative that aims to shatter the weathered stereotype of the ‘broken woman,’ and instead presents a survivor in all her colours.
Patricia has spent a year crafting a kick ass speech while recovering from an abusive relationship. But when she bumps into her ex on the street, and accidentally agrees to dinner with him that night, she’s got some big decisions to make; what to wear? What to say? And whether or not to go? Join Patricia as she gets ready for the date; tells stories of her past, how it has affected her present, and looks honestly at her future.
Producer: Nur Khairiyah (Khai), attended “So You Want to be a Theatre Producer?” Stage One workshop, 2019
Khai is a creative producer and theatre-maker from Singapore, currently based in London and have just completed her MA in Creative Producing at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. While in London, she founded RUMAH, (which means HOME in Malay) a new initiative that aims to open up spaces for integration, engage with authentic stories and to create and collaborate on something new.
What did you take away from the “So You Want to be a Producer?” event with James Seabright?
“I remembered James Seabright said “I’m not in this business to put shit on!” And I wrote that in big bold letters because I agree with what he said. Theatre is very precious to me, because firstly, it’s very expensive and as a producer whatever you put up there on that platform, it has to be a solid, substantial piece of work. And I believe Fringe festivals such as Vaults Festival are platforms to develop your idea. “Fringe won’t sell out, but take Fringe as a space to develop your ideas, engaging with communities and go in with confidence!”