By guest critic Alistair Wilkinson (@alistairwilks)
Is there a choice you wouldn’t have made, if you had known how that decision would have turned out? That is the question asked in Villain. Written and directed by Martin Murphy, this hour-long solo performance is intensely moving, satisfyingly upsetting, but with just the right amount of humour to make it upbeat.
What with the worst moments in human history threatening to repeat themselves in the western world, it’s to be expected that theatre will have a lot to say about it. Bernie C Byrnes seeks to comment directly on this cycle by incorporating modern Tory speeches into the volatile, tyrannical reign of Queen Mary I, with a focus on her determination to protect her country and its faith. She picks up on the strong parallels with the contemporary religious/fascist right.
Smoking used to be a sexy, glamorous thing that doctors recommended for good health and vitality. Even with modern regulations and acceptance that smoking kills, some people still puff with pride like people did back then. The Yorkshire town where Ash is set loves smoking, and the residents aren’t set to quit anytime soon – George Crozier certainly isn’t planning to. Juxtaposing the salt-of-the-earth, working class town with vintage cigarette adverts and rock n’ roll, Ash chronicles one man’s life through his smoking. Witty and clever with a good dose of playful physicality, it’s a multi-level critique of the tobacco industry executed with plenty of inventiveness.
By guest critic Tom Brocklehurst
Any review of Pina Bausch’s work should begin with a mention of her whole body of work just in case you, dear reader, are coming to her for the first time. Bausch was an influential modern choreographer, working with the company Tanztheater (literally ‘dance-theatre’) Wuppertal from 1973 until her death in 2009. She created a great number of dance pieces, which the company now continue to tour after her death. The shows normally consist of short scenes – switching between passionate dance pieces and small comic vignettes. The tone often fluctuates wildly from piece to piece throughout the show.
by guest critic Jo Trainor
6 performers, 2 musicians, 1 speaker; Do Not Adjust Your Stage’s Wunderkammer is its own wonderful world of improv insanity.
Wunderkammer works by having a professional make a speech in front of the audience and performers, and from that the ensemble and musicians take ideas, stories and characters and make a series of comedic sketches. Think a funky extension of a TED talk.
by guest critic Michael Davis
My World Has Exploded a Little Bit is not your average show at the Vaults (or anywhere else for that matter). Developed in collaboration with director/dramaturg Donnacadh O’Briain, My World Has Exploded a Little Bit is Bella Heesom’s response to her parents’ deaths occurring within a few years of each other. That’s devastating at the best of times. For it to happen during your 20s will have a profound effect on one’s relationships and worldview.
Joe and Steph are two lonely Londoners, and Cara and Dylan are dealing with grief in Dublin. The four young people, in two pairs of intertwined stories, disclose their anxieties and struggles in narrative monologues that are strong examples of moving storytelling. But they are only loosely linked thematically, and there is little that conveys a wider reason for placing these characters within the same work. The stories command attention as do the performances, but the question of why they are presented together never disappears.
Richard Marsh and Katie Bonna have the sort of falling-in-love story you see in movies. The two years that it took them to get together are a ridiculous mashup of drunken disorder, absurd coincidence and goofy comedy. So they wrote a show about it. Character comedy Dirty Great Love Story uses rhyming poetry (the language of love) and narration to reveal the exquisitely human and often cringy landscape of modern dating. Though the supporting characters are underdeveloped and there’s an overall lack of depth, the show has undeniable charm that can warm the coldest of hearts.
by guest critic Nastazja Somers
“Home, is where I want to be / Pick me up and turn around / I feel numb, born with a week heart/ I guess I must be having fun”
David Byrne’s lyrics to ‘This Must Be the Place’, one of the biggest hits from Talking Heads, can be easily seen as the inspiration for the production of This Must Be the Place which, after playing at the Latitude Festival, is now at VAULT Festival. Acclaimed playwrights Brad Birch and Kenneth Emson target the themes of loneliness and belonging in a moving and captivating way. However, whilst the piece is also beautifully acted and directed, it lacks a certain precision in conveying its message.
by guest critic Martin Pettitt
The subject of mental health and its lack of provision in the NHS is a hot issue and one I am close to myself. The recent announcements by the government of further plans and funding to tackle the problem have been met with skepticism from those in the profession. Hearing Things is a show that sets out to show how these issues are played out at ground level and how they affect those that manage and use mental health services on a day-to-day basis. Through extensive research and workshopping, the piece follows a handful of characters as they attempt to traverse the potholes of their own, and others, mental health issues.
The Play's The Thing UK 