Subterranean arts festival promises to surprise

Have you ever wondered what goes on underneath London’s famous “graffiti tunnel” that is Leake Street, near Waterloo station?

Halfway down the tunnel is the entrance to The Vaults, a subterranean labyrinth of creative space and entertainment. For the third year running, the venue will be home to the Vault Festival, a six-week event jam-packed with exciting shows and workshops – London’s cousin to the Edinburgh Fringe. Built on the philosophy of “reinventing the non-funded creative sector”, the line up is refreshing and promises to surprise with the unexpected and experimental.

On Wednesdays to Sundays every week between the 27th of January to the 6th March, the Vault Festival will host more than a hundred theatre, cabaret and comedy performances. Here is a selection of Felix Arts’ top picks.

Vault Surge

Throughout the festival

Vault Surge is an in-house programme of workshops, discussions and shows (mostly free) running throughout the festival. Designed to encourage conversation in the arts, these include artist surgeries, new acts performed in the restaurant within, as well as Femme Fierce – UK’s largest all female street art and graffiti festival. Not to mention the Vault Fundays, which include activities like “speed-gaming” – speed dating for gamers!

The Devil Speaks True

17th – 27th Feb at the Cage, £16

In this immersive performance theatre, you are cast as Banquo from Macbeth in a story tracing his journey from the battlefield to banquet table. With the help of headphones, video projections and live performance, the show focuses on the effects of war on men returning home from battle and the bond between soldiers.

Tar Baby

10th –14th Feb at Brick Hall, £16

Subtitled with “Let’s beat the shit out of racism”, this solo theatrical event takes a hard look at the story of race in America. Using history, autobiography and current events, the interactive show comments on minority experiences on the other side of the Atlantic.

The show won a Fringe First Award for new writing in Edinburgh in 2015.

Clowning workshops

The Art of Hysteria – 6th Feb, £12

Clown Smasher workshop

27th Feb, £10

The festival feature two clowning workshops, with a “hysterical” one, 'The Art of Hysteria', celebrating the new play Hysterical, and another one by the Fringe First nominated Helen Duff. 'Clown Smasher'will be a mix of solo improvisation and collaborative games. Why not take a break from work and learn a new skill (and maybe cheer your friends up)?

The Forest

24th Feb – 6th Mar, £16

This hour-long experience is an immersive, multi-sensory test that claims to “revolutionise the way you process data” and “give an insight into the functionality of your brain”. Is your brain a computer chip that can be debugged? Yeah, I’m curious to find out what that means, too.