The full programme is now announced for VAULT Festival 2022. Returning from 25 January to 20 March 2022 for its tenth anniversary, the festival will feature over 600 shows of the best new theatre, comedy, immersive experiences, cabaret, live performance, and late-night events from the UK’s brightest and boldest independent artists.
Including new partnerships with leading arts organisations and artists from across the UK, the festival will draw awareness to important issues which concern us today as well as offering the best, and most affordable, nights out in London.
VAULT Festival director and co-founder Andy George comments:
“Each and every artist in our programme this year has shown the most amazing resilience to still be making and creating after the past two years. Grass roots, independent artists are the present and the future of our culture and society. They need the support of audiences to keep going and continue to effect long-lasting, positive change. We cannot wait to share their unique stories, lives, and experiences with the world.”
Programme highlights
The climate emergency is at the forefront of many artists’ work: Decommissioned is a joyful, romantic play about how the impacts of climate change are happening right here, right now. Set in 2048, 1&Only is a near-fi, bureaucratic, satirical comedy about the politics of selling and the selling of politics. Also taking us to the future is Far Out, set in 2150 when the Earth is nearly burnt out and humans are searching for a new home. Acid’s Reign is a sustainable drag-cabaret play exploring the queerness of nature, and how the climate crisis impacts LGBTQ+ communities, and comedian Steve Hili’s The Sexy Environmentalist is a high-octane mix of environmentalism and “sexiness” in a last-ditch effort to unite humanity and save the planet!
True events inspire many of the shows in the programme. Borders is a play about a Grindr encounter between a man from Israel and one from Lebanon; this delicately scripted and humorous piece explores the complexities surrounding Middle East identity. Tackling themes surrounding motherhood, mental health, child abuse and living with third-degree burns, Dolly is a fast-paced two-hander, presented in partnership with The Katie Piper Foundation. And Dan Kelly tells the true story of trying to run 26.2 miles in the most secretive nation on earth in How I Came Third in the North Korean Marathon, directed by Fringe favourite Joseph Morpurgo.
Based on the 1970s clothworkers’ strike in Leeds, Shake The City tells of the unheard voices of brilliant Northern women, embodying female friendship, empowerment and grit. New musical Little Sausage is a verbatim piece using real words and folk-pop music to explore the myth that meat equals manliness. Far Gone is a profoundly moving story of a young boy’s journey from childhood innocence to child soldier in Northern Uganda.
Dreamers tells first-hand accounts of the struggle for freedom; Papergang Theatre brings together a group of Hong Kong artists who navigate colonial legacies, new red lines and unexpected fractures. Also with an international focus, I’m Fine is an exploration of masculinity, vulnerability, and identity in Middle Eastern and South Asian culture. Another Lover’s Discourse is an inventive new multimedia performance from one of Palestine’s most exciting contemporary artists, inviting you to think differently about love. Housewarming brings a heartfelt touch to an important conversation around the definition of home and speaks to anyone who has experienced movement and displacement.
The Full Programme for VAULT Festival 2022 has been announced! 600+ shows featuring the very best in theatre, comedy, immersive experiences, cabaret, family shows & late night entertainment. Join us for our 10th anniversary festival. 25 Jan – 20 Mar
Book: https://t.co/logzYMCATP pic.twitter.com/l75gWDedyQ— VAULT Festival (@VAULTFestival) November 23, 2021
LGBTQIA+ stories remain a focus of the VAULT programme. Structured around 13 spoken word poems combined with dub poetry and African musical harmonies, A Dozen Things I Would Rather Be explores truths about being black and gay in the Caribbean, Africa and clubs at the heart of London. Somewhere to Belong tackles misperceptions of the bi+ community, finding new ways to celebrate the authentic voices of bi, pan and queer people from around the world. Shortlisted for the New Diorama UNTAPPED Award 2020, Lesbian Space Crime is a comedy with slapdash songs about intergalactic queer dirtbags. Con-Version is a genre-bending piece about the absurdities of trying to change your intrinsic self with clowning, physical theatre and burlesque.
Unheard stories of modern womanhood are given voice throughout this year’s festival. Using live vocal looping, live film, spoken word and audience interaction, Dosage is a multidisciplinary, playful interrogation of the side effects of the contraceptive pill. Dry Season interweaves music, movement and medical texts with original poetry and animation in this witty, honest and intimate piece that questions assumptions around menopause. Blanket Ban is a devised docu-play interrogating the blanket ban on abortion in Malta through interviews, verbatim, innovative use of technology, and a fondly critical look at the island state.
Friendships have been tried and tested over the last two years: Incognito Theatre burst back with their raucous and riotously funny new comedy The Net Kill, interrogating friendship, brotherhood, and how men express their emotions and support each other in the face of grave danger. The multi- award-nominated, ultimate nostalgia trip is back with DJ Bazzer’s Year 6 Disco as we find just what happened to those childhood dreams, and what jealousy really does to us. Night on Boob Mountain is a surreal and raucous teen horror gig theatre show about puberty, friendships and self-discovery.
How we perceive ourselves and how we want others to perceive us is seen in many shows in the 2022 programme. Please, Feel Free to Share is a dynamic, darkly comic, one-woman show about our personal addictions, the never-ending pursuit of likes, and our growing desire to share all. Peppered with references to Lizzo’s music and full of joyous dance, singing and lip-sync, SELF HATE / What Would Lizzo Do? is about being worshipped – by our society, by our lovers, by ourselves. And Black Women Dating White Men looks at what happens when you’re in love with someone from a culture that systematically oppresses yours.
Disciplines merge, ideas unite, and diversity is celebrated at VAULT. An electrifying re-imagining of the ultimate love triangle, the eagerly awaited Oedipus Electronica from Pecho Mama is a radical reinvention that will take you on a relentless white-knuckle ride through ecstasy and devastation. Ian Lynam’s Autistic License comically explores diagnosis, relationships, sexuality, creativity and the history of autism. How Disabled Are You explores real attitudes towards those who claim benefits and disabilities that aren’t always visible to the eye. Inspired by the death positivity movement, Dead Positive follows the women behind the doors in the death industry, allowing audiences to consider what they want to happen when they die. A darkly comic one-woman show, Frank explores the tensions of being Jewish and secular in the UK today.
Visit VaultFestival.com for full programme details and tickets.
