Inside Voices, VAULT Festival

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by Joanna Trainor

“Humans should fuck the men they want, move on, no hurt feelings.”

I recently went to a play written by a white man, with an entirely white, three quarters male cast and the audience was pretty reflective of that. Well, here’s a piece by a female South East Asian writer, starring three Asian women and the room looks like we’re actually sat in London.

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Juniper and Jules, Vaults Festival

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by Laura Kressly

I can’t stop smiling at the memory of the audience almost entirely composed of lesbian couples. Though not a rare thing to see a fringe theatre audience made up mainly of women, the hand holding and cuddling happening around the room indicates there’s something special about this play.

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Welcome to the UK, Bunker Theatre

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by Laura Kressly

It seems like the Bunker has been transformed into a small-scale, DIY circus, setting the mood for a playful and uplifting story. Instead, an ensemble of 16 enacts a series of grotesque and infuriating sketches depicting refugees’ and asylum seekers’ experiences navigating the UK’s racist and classist ‘Hostile Environment’.

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Thomas, Vault Festival

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by Louis Train

Thomas is, in the words of its creator, “a story that’s as much for those on the spectrum as it is for people who aren’t.” The spectrum in this case is the Autistic Spectrum, and Thomas is an honest, open, and confident look at what life can be like for people who experience the world a bit differently.

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Opal Fruits and Dangerous Lenses, Vault Festival

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by Laura Kressly

It’s no secret that the social class system in this country has marginalised the working classes, with women pushed to the absolute fringes of society. To the world outside their immediate circle, sometimes no bigger than the street they live on, they are invisible. Solo shows Opal Fruits and Dangerous Lenses, though radically different in style, seek to change that by centering the working class woman’s experiences and demanding attention for those wilfully forgotten.

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Thriller Live, Lyric Theatre

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by Louis Train

Thriller Live, the Michael Jackson concert show on the West End, celebrated its tenth anniversary last night with a performance and a reception. The performance was great fun and the reception was tasteful, and the evening, overall, was a success. But I feel there were some lingering questions that neither the personalities on stage nor at the party can answer.

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