Tezza's Theatre Place

Do you know who Ada Lovelace or Charles Babbage are? The chances are that you will say no to the first and yes to the second name. Well, back in the 19th Century, Ada Lovelace carried out pioneering computing work on the Analytical Engine with Charles Babbage. Ada is one of the great unsung heroines of science whose works are only known by the men they collaborated with. Of course, that was the 19th Century and things are so much different today aren’t they? Unfortunately not. Historically the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) specialisations have always been perceived as the purview of men. This is one of the themes running through Katie Granger’s play  Ares  being performed during the final week of the Vault Festival in Waterloo. This one-woman show tells the story of Alice (Andrea Hall) a young lady who has moved from a humble farm – where she was brought up by her father after her mother abandoned the family – through to becoming an astrophysicis...

2018 Bleach – Paris Fringe The Vault Festival continues to amaze and entertain with a whole range of shows and productions that cover every taste and interest. Virtually everything I have seen in the years I have been covering the Vault Festival has been somewhere between good and awesome – in fact, only one show comes to mind that I really didn’t like. However, occasionally there is a production that totally takes your breath away and leaves you with a profound sense of seeing – and maybe participating in – something exceptionally special. A case in point is Dan Ireland-Reeves’  Bleach  which runs at the festival until the 10th February. Tyler Everett is a lad who has a degree under his belt and has, like so many others, come to London to make his fortune. Unfortunately for Tyler, his life is not like Dick Whittington’s and he is currently living in a small – or compact and bijou in estate agent speak – bedsit. His initial entry into the employment world sees him startin...

Fight Night. VAULT Festival. Photo Mark Senior. (Pete Grimwood and Edward Linard). Now here’s a conundrum. I love going to The Vaults Festival and I really enjoy immersive theatre. However, even my best friends wouldn’t call me sporty in any way and I am really not all that keen on boxing – two men fight in a ring and get paid millions, two men fight in the street and end up in the cells. So you can imagine that when I was asked to go to the Vaults and see an immersive production set around a boxing match I was in two minds as to what to do. However, FOMO being the mother of all necessity, along I went to see Exit Productions latest production  Fight Night . The production is set in the world of boxing where a new promoter has set up a match between an old boxing pro, Ian “Bam Bam” Bradshaw and an up and coming usurper to the crown, Joe Williams. However,  Fight Night  is so much more than a boxing match and over the roughly 90 minutes run time, the audience get ...