• Advertise
  • Request Review
  • Write for Us
  • Privacy
  • Login

Theatre Bubble

The UK Theatre Network

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Features
  • Spotlight
  • Opinions
  • Interviews
  • Guides
  • Ed Fringe

Shows on the Rise at VAULT Festival 2018: The Strongbox by Stephanie Jacob

February 15, 2018 by Tom Bailey Leave a Comment

The VAULT Festival is coming to town! From January 24th to March 18th, over three hundred new shows explode across a festival of festivals in their Waterloo home. With new venues, new bars, new food and plenty of surprises, VAULT 2018 is the biggest, fairest platform in London for artists to present innovative, daring work. Here we have a chat with Stephanie Jacob about her reasons for writing The Strongbox.

I’m an actor who started writing plays about 15 years ago. One reason I began writing was to create really good parts for women (I’ve played a lot of maids, nurses and slightly quirky neighbours in my time). I want my women characters to be centre stage, making the big things in the play happen and to be more like the women we all know in real life.

Our play at Vault 2018 is for three women, one old, one middle-aged and one young. (Yes, one solution is not to write any parts for men at all!) The Strongbox is about a mother and daughter who keep a homeless teenager as their domestic slave. So these characters are doing unwomanly things – like being violent and parenting very badly and struggling for power over one another. Despite the high stakes, the play’s funny as well as dark and it’s also genuinely hopeful.

We thought Vault 18 would be a fantastic, atmospheric place to try out the play – when Lucy, the director, and I saw The Pit on an Open Day we laughed – it had rained the night before, so one dark wall was running with water, the trains rumbled overhead and we realised we wouldn’t need to do much acting, the space would do it for us.

We’re really excited about bringing The Strongbox to Week 6 of VAULT – we think there’s a young Vault audience who will relish an hour in the company of Ma, Kat and Maudie – even if it’s quite challenging – or maybe because it is! So see you there!

Stephanie Jacob, writer and Lucy Richardson, director of The Strongbox

The Strongbox is running at the VAULT festival from the 28th of Feb to the 4th of March at 18:15. Tickets and more information can be found here.

Tom Bailey

Author: Tom Bailey

Tom is a theatre maker and writer based in London, England. He covers news and interviews for Theatre Bubble.
T: Twitter F: Facebook

Filed Under: Featured, Spotlight Tagged With: The Strongbox, Vault Festival

Join the discussion Cancel reply

Hands Face & Empty Space / Sarah Chew on life drawing and Zoom

On the 17th March, it will be exactly one year since UK theatre came to an overnight standstill. Every day [Read More]

Hands Face & Empty Space / Emily Beecher on being a reluctant producer and unproducer

On the 17th March, it will be exactly one year since UK theatre came to an overnight standstill. Every day [Read More]

Hands Face & Empty Space / Alison Ford on maternity, redundancy and doing what’s right

On the 17th March, it will be exactly one year since UK theatre came to an overnight standstill. Every day [Read More]

Hands Face & Empty Space / Peter Moreton talks about growing the grass roots

On the 17th March, it will be exactly one year since UK theatre came to an overnight standstill. Every day [Read More]

NEWS / Concert opportunity for musical theatre performers

A series of three concerts featuring musical theatre and drama graduates will be streamed from London’s Cadogan Hall in March. [Read More]

Top Posts & Pages

  • Alison Ford on maternity, redundancy and doing what's right
  • Sarah Chew on life drawing and Zoom
  • Emily Beecher on being a reluctant producer and unproducer
  • 10 Tips to Help You Prepare for Your Reality TV Auditions
  • Peter Moreton talks about growing the grass roots
  • Yasmin Paige on Actually
  • The Life at Southwark Playhouse
  • Writing the Perfect Press Release
  • Actor's Corner: Keeping Curious with Jamie Baughan
  • Katy Owen: Auditioning for Oxford School of Drama
  • Tom Bailey

    Tom Bailey
    Editor

  • February 15th, 2018
  • comment iconNo Comments
  • FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail

    Newsletter

    Enjoyed what you've read? Get even more great content directly to your inbox - Completely Free

    About Theatre Bubble

    Theatre Bubble is the news, review and blogging site created by Blue Pie Media and run by a dedicated team of outstanding editors and writers: we're always looking for new contributors - to find out more click here.

    Contact Us

    News: news@theatrebubble.com
    Reviews: reviews@theatrebubble.com
    Website: webmaster@theatrebubble.com

    Privacy Policy

    Copyright © 2021 · Blue Pie Media

    Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

    Email sent!