Well, it's been a saga. The excitement of being programmed for VAULT Festival 2022, the heartbreak for all of us when Omicron forced the organisers to cancel, the offer to be part of Pinch of Vault and at last, on Tuesday, Side FX got its first full-length outing before the most gorgeous audience imaginable. The Glitch is Vault Creative Arts' new venue, a lovely cafe-cabaret space that stayed impressively cool as the audience joined in with side effects bingo on a ridiculously hot day.
During rehearsals at South London Theatre I explored the many different voices that come through in this work; the voices of the people I interviewed, the testimonies of 1970s doctors and the painful pleasure of Loretta Lynn's extraordinary song 'The Pill', as well as my own experiences. The resulting show was a consultation-cabaret, in which I played the doctor and her patient, rattling through patter songs, games, audience participation and spoken word poetry. The response was wonderful, and I think we all shared some tears as well as big laughs, particularly when my lovely boyfriend accidentally found himself on stage with a mega syringe full of ketchup.
There's so much more to discover in this work, which is why I'm so very excited that we'll be back in the Autumn for a work in progress at Theatre Deli, as part of SHIFT + SPACE on 7th and 8th of October. Watch this space!
And, since you're here, watch this little excerpt from 'Low Bar', an original composition by me and my dad.