VAULT 2022: Four more shows that should have been.
The productions, the artists behind them, and what they are up to instead.
Hello, and welcome to The Crush Bar, a weekly newsletter about theatre written by me, Fergus Morgan.
Each issue usually features an interview with an exciting, emerging theatremaker - and gives them a chance to be explicit about where they want to go and what help they need to get there. This issue, though, like that of a fortnight ago, and a fortnight before that, is slightly different.
VAULT’s cancellation was a devastating blow for dozens and dozens of artists and companies, and I wanted to do what little I could to offer some support to people who were planning on performing at the festival, so I decided to dedicate several issues of this newsletter to the shows that should have been. I’ve already done two. This is the third.
It will find out about the shows, the artists behind them, what they were hoping to achieve at VAULT Festival, and what they are planning on doing instead. To receive future issues featuring more shows that should have been, and my regular interviews with emerging artists, you can subscribe to The Crush Bar below.
1. after birth - Zena Forster and Grace Duggan
Who are you?
I’m Grace Duggan, the director of after birth. My practice is both in directing and being a community artist. I currently direct the youth theatre at Theatre Royal Stratford East, and I’m interested in new work and collaborating with other artists.
My favourite ice-breaker in the rehearsal room is, ‘If you could describe yourself as a packet of crisps, what packet of crisps would you be and why?’ I’m Walkers Baked, ready salted.
What was your show at VAULT 2022?
after birth is a dark comedy by Zena Forster about motherhood and mental illness that challenges stigma, the inequalities in our society, and the alienating experience of having a baby in a patriarchal world.
It is deeply rooted in the diverse experiences of many fearless women who experienced psychosis after the births of their babies and shared their stories with us. We want to raise awareness around psychosis and other dangerous mental health conditions, and to help to improve outcomes in disproportionately affected groups.Â
What were you hoping to achieve at VAULT 2022?
after birth won the North Wall Arts Centre’s Propeller Award in 2020 and premiered there in June 2021. Following this, we wanted to be able to share this play with a wider audience, particularly the young, diverse audience that VAULT attracts.
Where can people find out more about you?
We are really excited to be part of the Omnibus Theatre’s VAULT transfer season. We wanted to premiere the show in London before taking it on tour, and felt that Omnibus was the right place to do that, with its audience that is keen to watch new work, have a laugh, and be challenged.
2. DJ Bazzer’s Year 6 Disco - ChewBoy Productions
Who are you?
Howdy! I’m Georgie Bailey, an award-winning playwright, poet and creative producer. I write surreal and poetic work which looks to interrogate society, and asks the audience to be an engaged participant. In 2018, I co-founded ChewBoy Productions, a multi-arts production company dedicated to making minty fresh work that sticks.
What was your show at VAULT 2022?
We were due to bring our Offie-nominated one-person-play DJ Bazzer’s Year 6 Disco to VAULT. It’s a solo show following the 35-year-old resident DJ of Brigdale Primary School in the build-up to the Year 6 leavers’ disco, and it deals with themes of nostalgia, anxiety around growing up, and the fear of losing those childhood dreams we hold onto so tight.
What were you hoping to achieve at VAULT 2022?
VAULT has always been a huge goal for us, and one we wanted to hit since setting up four years ago as a company, and we were super buzzed to finally be going. For me as a writer, it would’ve been a fantastic opportunity to invite agents, and begin conversations to widen my network of potential collaborators and other creatives.
Where can people find out more about you?
We’ve kept ourselves busy both individually and as an organisation! I’ve been writing a short film for a drama school showcase, as well as a new large-scale horror show, and working through ACE bids by the dozen.
DJ Baz is getting another run at the National Student Drama Festival this year as one of the headline acts, which we’re super excited about! And we’ve got some plans confirmed for our play TETHERED, which debuted last year at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre.
And finally, we’re gearing up for a multi-arts festival we’re producing in May, which we’ll be announcing very soon, so keep your eyes peeled on our socials for more info!
3. Decommissioned - Molly Anne Sweeney and Sophia Bagge
Who are you?
We are Sofia and Molly, two creatives who had been friends for a really long time before we realised that we could make theatre together. We make funny, heartfelt shows about stuff like the end of the world. Molly writes and Sofia directs.
What was your show at VAULT 2022?
Inspired by the true story of Fairbourne in Wales, Decommissioned is a joyful, romantic play about how the climate emergency is happening right here, right now. We were lucky enough to receive ACE funding for a R&D period in November 2021 to develop the show ready for sustainable touring across the UK, especially coastal areas, and even more especially coastal areas in Wales.
What were you hoping to achieve at VAULT 2022?
We wanted to share the show with people who are not our mums and boyfriends. We had a work-in-progress performance as part of the VAULT’s Fringe Futures Festival in May 2021, and we were so excited to launch the full, proper play. We hoped to connect with venues so we could launch a tour of the play – and we are still really keen to do that!
Where can people find out more about you?
We are performing an extract of Decommissioned at the Omnibus Theatre on Monday, and we are bringing a work-in-progress version of it to Theatre Deli for Shift+Space in April. We’ll be interrogating the audience interaction and experimenting with our ideas, and we’d love to see you there.
4. The Night Woman - Julene Robinson and Emma Blackman Productions
Who are you?
I’m Julene Robinson and I'm a Jamaican, London-based, award-winning multidisciplinary performance artist, actor and scientist. My work focuses on identity, gender, heritage, science and mythmaking, and how these filter through the body in the medium of theatre, film and live arts.
What was your show at VAULT 2022?
The Night Woman is a one-woman-show about womanhood, blackness and healing. It follows a black woman as she navigates darkness, and it is a joyful and thought-provoking night of Jamaican storytelling, poetry and music. It is a delicious unravelling of movement and sound, singing, and drumming.
What were you hoping to achieve at VAULT 2022?
As part of the VAULT FIVE programme, our premiere in the tunnels was due to be an important step-change in my creative practice. With The Night Woman, I'm giving a stage to pressing themes and questions that are very close to my heart, through a multitude of forms. Having the chance to share my work in such a renowned festival would have been a rich and transformative opportunity.
Where can people find out more about you?
The Night Woman has a new home! The Other Palace has welcomed us as part of their VAULT Festival Transfer Season. We'll be doing four shows in mid-March. The space is amazing and we can't wait to finally bring The Night Woman out of the shadows.
The Crush Bar is totally free to read and doesn’t receive regular funding, so anything you can do to support it is hugely appreciated. There are three helpful things in particular: you can subscribe using the button above, you can share it, either on social media or by forwarding it to anyone who might be interested, and you can donate to my Ko-Fi account using the button below.
If you want to get in touch with me to ask about anything, or to suggest someone who deserves a shout-out in this newsletter, you can reach me on Twitter - I’m @FergusMorgan - or by simply replying to this email. That’s all for now. Back in a week. Thanks for reading.
Fergus Morgan