How quickly seven weeks of tremendous theatre have passed. This is the final week of VAULT Festival 2019, and we’re sure you’ll have enjoyed your time underground as much as we have. But it’s not quite over yet, here are top five picks of VAULT Festival in week 8.
Wombmates
13- 15 March
It’s the age-old story of boy meets girl. Well boy meets boy – they’re brothers, in a womb. So more like sperm meets egg, becomes foetus and then a baby… or babies in this case, and one mother is in for a big surprise. Nine months in sixty minutes, Wombmates is an ‘ultra-sound’, bizarre physical comedy following two Geordie babies, from conception to delivery. An intimate insight into the unseen lives of foetuses everywhere, a hilarious peek inside the belly designed to entertain and educate. But whilst all that time gives these boys the chance to play, discover and explore, when their nine months are up, they begin to question…is there really life after birth?
Ares
13 – 17 March
‘Ares’ is a one-woman future-drama about black holes, motherhood, grief, and Alice – the astrophysicist heading the first manned mission to Mars.
As a woman in a male dominated industry, Alice is no stranger to struggle. But the biggest conflict of her life arises when she must decide whether to send her astronaut husband on this dangerous mission, knowing he may never return.
‘Ares’ is the first full-length play by Katie Granger. It has been a long-term collaboration with actor Andrea Hall and director Emma Harris, in combination with creative producer Jessy Parker Humphreys.
I Run
13 – 17 March
A dad loses his 6-year old daughter to cancer, and his world falls apart. He doesn’t know how to process the life-shattering void following her premature death. He starts running to deal with his loss. Only, he can’t stop. He runs through the pain, the memories and the grief to try and find the point where he no longer runs, but soars – the point where he is close to her again. I RUN is a fast-paced, explosive and moving one-man play about running, grief and missing someone we love. About how you survive the death of your child. It explores how exercise can improve mental health, the rise of male depression, and why we find it so hard to talk about death.
This piercing piece of new writing by award winning Danish playwright Line Mørkeby is brought to the Vault stage for the very first time, following its UK premiere at Drama Centre London in 2018.
The Talented Mr Ripley
13 – 17 March
Young nobody Tom Ripley is despatched to Italy to retrieve rich millionaire playboy, Dickie Greenleaf. What nobody realises is that Tom Ripley is a con-man, fantasist and, soon to be, murderer.
The multi award-winning Faction revive their critically acclaimed, sell out production of Patricia Highsmith’s extraordinary psychological thriller about ambition, escapism, and murder.
Vulvarine
13 – 17 March
The critically-acclaimed sellout Edinburgh Fringe hit. Bryony Buckle is astoundingly average. Her days are filled with mind numbing office work, thinking about lunch and lusting after Orson Bloom from IT. But following a dose of hormone therapy gone wrong and a well-timed bolt of lightning, Bryony gains superhero abilities and a brand-new persona: Vulvarine, saviour of womankind.
Where is all the tampon tax going? Who is The Mansplainer, and what is his evil plan?
Grab your tights, your spanx and your most supportive sports bra. It’s hero time.
