Belinda, VAULT Festival

by Laura Kressly

Rose and Ruby are best friends and flatmates who met at Piper’s, one of the few spaces for queer women and femmes left in the city. Piper’s has announced they have to close so the pair are scheming about how to raise money for the venue. Turning to tarot and astrology as well as their own lives, queer joy ultimately emerges from the characters’ struggles as well as from the actors who play them.

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The Unicorn, VAULT Festival

by Diana Miranda

Recently unemployed and battling feelings of loneliness, Andrea explores casual dating for connection and distraction – mostly distraction. Tinder one-night-stands gradually evolve into exclusive sex parties. Dissecting a newfound sexual drive, Andrea probes a path that offers a soothing, exciting alternative to her seemingly crumbling life, but her boundary-pushing exploration soon reveals a story of addiction.

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Graceland, Royal Court

by Laura Kressly

Nina, an achingly cool yet awkward young Londoner, wasn’t expecting to meet Gabriel at a BBQ in Tooting, but she does. Their burgeoning relationship seems perfect. Descriptions of dates, parties, meeting each others’ families and moving in together feel natural and healthy, until things start to deteriorate. Moments that were previously joyful become tense, and physical affection is now forceful. As much as this is a monologue about falling in love, it’s also a piece about its deterioration into abuse and finding a way out.

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Hexenhammer, VAULT Festival

by Luisa De la Concha Montes

Die Hexenhammer is a treatise on witchcraft written and published in 1486 by Catholic clergymen Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. The key argument of the book is the following: Chaos is female and women corrupt men, therefore women must be destroyed. Using this historical event as the backbone of the play, Suzy Kohane (as Heinrich) and Sidsel Rostrup (as Jacob, Heinrich’s faithful companion) mix comedy and verbatim theatre (taken from incel forums) to create a hilarious, yet extremely poignant play that explores the roots of misogyny.

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Love Me or I’ll Kill Myself, VAULT Festival

by Zahid Fayyaz

This is a fascinating one-woman show, aptly timed for the valentines season, exploring facets of love and obsession. Following Faith, expertly played by Faith Brandon, in her quest for love, this is a highly entertaining and compelling look at one woman’s descent into obsession.

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Thirsty, VAULT Festival

by Laura Kressly

Sara is in her mid-30s and feeling lost. Newly single after a transformational yet difficult relationship, she looks to her friends for support and inspiration about how not to live her life. They’re all mired in a cishet lifestyle filled with husbands, kids, and yoga. Sara, still desperately missing her ex, knows she doesn’t want these things but somehow has to move on and find a life that’s a perfect fit.

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I Can’t Hear You, Theatre503

by Laura Kressly

After Ash and Lucy hook up after work drinks, things quickly get serious between the two young call centre workers. Initially they can’t get enough of each other, but something shifts between them after a homophobic attack on a night out. Their different responses ultimately drive a wedge between them, though underneath this conflict there is genuine and joyful queer love.

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Favour, Bush Theatre

by Zahid Fayyaz

This is a brand new play, co-commissioned by the Bush Theatre and Clean Break Theatre Company. Clean Break was formed in 1979, and focuses on given women, who have experienced the justice and prison systems, opportunities to work and tell their stories through theatre and performance. This particular story focuses on the release of Aleena from prison, and how this release impacts her daughter Leila, who was been living with Noor, her grandmother during Aleena’s imprisonment. There is a clash of philosophies between the traditional Noor and the freer-spirited and highly strung Aleena, with family secrets threatening to come to a head.

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