Posted on

Review: Heroine, VAULT Festival

Lizzie Milton’s insightful and amusing deep dive into folklore comes up with the goods in Heroine at the VAULT Festival

“You can be a heroine and still have a way to go yet”

Enrique Iglesias could be one for you, Mariah Carey thinks you are one; and so did David Bowie. Popular culture lacks no paeans for heroes but when it comes to celebrating heroines, the well seems to run a little dry (and no, it’s not just because it is a more difficult rhyme…!) Snatchback and Joyous Gard’s Heroine looks to redress that balance just a little as it delves into folkloric traditions from around the globe to celebrate the unsung.

Written by Lizzie Milton (10) and directed by Asia Osborne (Call Me Fury and The Teind), the show puts its women front and centre as we meet Mother, Maid and Crone who are here to take us on a storytelling odyssey. And as we journey from West African tales to Aztec traditions, from Celtic mysteries to Inuit romance, there’s a funny and frank appraisal of role of women in these stories and what they often have to endure in the name of the patriarchy.

Continue reading “Review: Heroine, VAULT Festival”

Posted on

10 questions for 10 years – Nastazja Somers

A self-described “European theatre maker infesting British theatre”,  Nastazja Somers pauses the patriarchy-toppling for just long enough to answer Ten Questions for Ten Years 

Posted on

Review: 10, VAULT Festival

Theatre continues to lead the way in the feminist recasting of history as Lizzie Milton’s 10 introduces more forgotten heroines at the VAULT Festival

“Does that count for nothing?
Do I count for nothing”

Stuck at Six? Try 10. The truth is, sadly, that there are endless women whose histories have been misrepresented, or not even told but thankfully, there does seem to be a desire to tell those stories right now, accompanied by an appetite for them to be seen. Six is nominated for five Oliviers, Emilia has transferred into the West End and other shows at the VAULT such as The Limit have also got in on the act.

And why wouldn’t this be the case. Pretty much half of history has gone untold, unexplored, under-represented in our textbooks and in our culture, so it stands to reason that there’s acres of potential here. Lizzie Milton’s 10 identifies ten such women from across the centuries and across many disciplines, from medieval Mercian queens to Second World War heroines, abolitionists to painters, this is our real history. Continue reading “Review: 10, VAULT Festival”

Posted on

2019 VAULT Festival – 20 shows to see

With less than a week to go before the 2019 VAULT Festival opens, I wade my way through the catalogue and come up with 20 shows I think you should catch – in their own words

Now in its seventh year, VAULT Festival returns this year from 23rd January to 17th March with a broad and diverse programme of more than 400 shows in a range of atmospheric venues throughout Waterloo. And as ever, the remit is to be as big and bold as impossible, with the festival featuring theatre, comedy, cabaret, immersive experiences, late night parties, and much more besides.

It can be a little overwhelming to figure out what you want to see, the majority of shows run for a week (Wednesday to Sunday) so you’ll need to move pretty sharpish once you’ve decided – there’s the VAULT Combo deal which saves you money booking more than one show, and some 241 deals available through the Stagedoor app. And to help you, I’ve identified 20 shows (and it could have been so many more!) that appealed to me and asked them to sell themselves in 10 words or less in order to grab your attention.  Continue reading “2019 VAULT Festival – 20 shows to see”

Posted on

Round-up of news and treats and other interesting things

In Bechdel Testing Life, Bechdel Theatre presents four short plays by Isley Lynn, Rabiah Hussain, Guleraana Mir, and Lizzie Milton. Each play is inspired by a real-life conversation between women.
 
The Experiment:
Inspired by the famous Bechdel Test, which asks: “Are there two female characters? Do they talk to each other? About something other than a man?”, women were asked to record their own conversations with each other – to pass the Bechdel Test in real life.
 
Their recordings were then given to a team of fantastic female playwrights.
 
The Result:
Four new plays exploring the relationships that make up our daily lives but are less often represented in fiction.
 
Bechdel Testing Life is a celebration of the complex, intimate, hilarious, and genius conversations that take place when women get together. It plays at the Bunker Theatre on 22nd and 23rd July.

Continue reading “Round-up of news and treats and other interesting things”