Full programme announced for 10th anniversary VAULT Festival

The full line-up has been announced for the 10th anniversary VAULT Festival, which runs in Waterloo from 25 January to 20 March.

The programme comprises over 600 shows in total, straddling the fields of theatre, comedy, immersive experiences, cabaret, live performance, and late-night events.

The climate emergency is the focus of many, including Molly Anne Sweeney's new play Decommissioned and the future-set 1&Only and Far Out. Acid's Reign is billed as a "sustainable drag-cabaret play" exploring how the climate crisis impacts LGBTQ communities, while comedian Steve Hili's The Sexy Environmentalist is a "last ditch effort to unite humanity and save the planet".

Other new plays include Borders, about a Grindr encounter between a man from Israel and one from Lebanon; Dan Kelly's true life-inspired How I Came Third in the North Korean Marathon; Shake the City based on the 1970s clothworkers' strike in Leeds; Lesbian Space Crime, a "comedy with slapdash songs about intergalactic queer dirtbags"; and Incognito Theatre's The Net Kill, interrogating "how men express their emotions and support each other in the face of grave danger". And Generation V will showcase work from drama schools East 15 and Fourth Monkey.

They join previously announced shows including Julene Robinson's The Night Woman, Casey Bailey's Please Do Not Touch, The Silver Bell from Irish writer Alan Flanagan, Fatty Fat Fat creator Katie Greenall's Blubber (exploring fat queer bodies), Pennyroyal, directed by JMK winner Josh Roche, Christian Brighty's debut show Playboy and a variety of late night events.

There will also be comedy from the likes of Arthur Smith, Rajiv Karia, Maisie Adam, Helen Bauer, Jazz Emu, John Robertson, Nina Conti and Shenoah Allen.

Audiences will be required to show an NHS Covid Pass to access all venues and bars, while organisers have also announced there will be an improved ventilation system in the underground space.

VAULT Festival director and co-founder Andy George said: "Each and every artist in our programme this year has shown the most amazing resilience to still be making and creating after the past two years. Grass roots, independent artists are the present and the future of our culture and society. They need the support of audiences to keep going and continue to effect long lasting, positive change. We cannot wait to share their unique stories, lives, and experiences with the world."