VAULT festival announces 2019 line-up

The line-up for the 2019 Vault Festival has been announced.

Running underneath the arches at Waterloo Station as well as other satellite spaces in the nearby area, the festival will feature shows from over 2000 performers, with 53 per cent of work being female-led and 25 per cent of work coming from LGBTQIA+ artists.

Headlining the theatre line-up will be immersive folk opera Counting Sheep, which first premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2016. Running for the full eight weeks of the festival, the show explores the Ukrainian revolution. Critic Matt Trueman said of the show when it first premiered: "even in this controlled environment, your stomach knots, your adrenaline surges, your body clenches for the fight. It's powerful, play-acting." The makers of Counting Sheep will also present their newest show Balaklava Blues throughout the festival.

The festival will team up with New Diorama Theatre to present the NDT/Vault Festival Takeover. Highlights for the takeover include a London run of Jon Brittain's A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad), Kill the Beast's '70s-based comedy Director's Cut, sell-out hit Queens of Sheba and The Faction's production of The Talented Mr Ripley, based on Patricia Highsmith's psychological thriller.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Tom Lenk will star as Tilda Swinton in Tilda Swinton Answers an Ad on Craigslist, about a gay man being rescued by the iconic star, while theatre ensemble The PappyShow will present a cycle of plays as part of a venue takeover: Boys, about the hidden side masculinity, Girls, about the joyous stories of women through the ages, and Care a tribute to the NHS.

Two Edinburgh Fringe hits, The Myth of the Singular Moment and Ladykiller will run at the festival, while Lucy Roslyn and Josh Roche's Orlando will explore Virginia Woolf's iconic character through the ages. MALAPROP will perform Jericho, a story about the entertainment of politics and boxing, while Katie and Pip is about making invisible disabilities visible, with the help of an actual dog live in the performance.

There will be several shows marking the marginalisation of women in history, including Fat Rascal's Galvanise, new musical The Limit, a feminist exploration of Lolita in the form of Lola, and 10, about the history of Britain through the eyes of ten influential women.

Faceplant Theatre will return with their award-winning One Duck Down, a family comedy about a rubber duck spillage, while Christian Brighty and Luke Rollason will present Blue Planet III, a spoof documentary imagining a world where the BBC has flooded due to rising sea levels and two interns are determined to complete David Attenborough's work.

The venue will also support Help Refugees and Child.org through various initiatives throughout the festival. There will be paperless tickets, and reusable cups will be provided throughout the festival to reduce waste.

A series of late-night performances (entitled Lates) run throughout the festival, including Pecs Drag King Collective's King for a Night, Shotgun Carousel's Eat Your Heart Out! and a St Patrick's Day shining from SPECIFIQ and Rogue Productions entitled RUCKUS.

Comedians performing during the festival include like James Acaster, Phil Wang, Desiree Burch, Max and Ivan and Elf Lyons.

Vault Festival runs from 23 January to 17 March.