For the past five years in a row, the famous Waterloo Vaults have hosted the VAULT Festival. On Thursday evening, the WL team had the pleasure of a private tour of the VAULT Festival, accompanied by ABTT, ALD, ASD and AIF members and friends.
Andy George, the VAULT Festival’s Co-director tells us that many of the staff members have been with the company for four festivals or more: “It’s an important factor that adds to the growth of the Festival. This year we had 225 different shows which adds up to over 1000 performances and I am so proud of the level of care and attention our customers and companies are provided with. It’s easy to go to a venue and find rude, inattentive staff. I’m really proud that our staff have the desire to make it work. They hugely factor into our plans and whenever we make decisions we always try to make them with the three groups we are trying to affect: the audience, the companies and the staff.”
We continue the tour to the unique space where The Great Gatsby took place – the immersive production that drew creatives from Secret Cinema, Les Enfant Terribles, The Flanagan Collective and Belt Up Theatre. The show is now transferring to a secret West End location – and that’s not the only show that takes off after its success at The Vaults. A lot of shows celebrate continued success at Brighton and Edinburgh Festivals or carry on to larger, nationwide tours. The VAULT Festival is here to champion the new companies and emerging talent in all areas of the industry – actors, LDs, set designers, technicians… Andy adds: “The way we work is we assume that everybody who works with us hasn’t done this before although that is not always true. We provide guidance and tailor it for each company individually. Marketing, press workshops, talks on budgeting and anything that can make their experience better. It’s then a platform for them to learn. As mentioned previously, some of the companies know what they want, but it’s nice that we can then take that experience and pass it on to the younger companies.”
It’s not very well known that companies receive free hire of the space at the VAULT Festival and the Festival only profits if the shows do. Andy comments: “We are proud of the fact that the artists take 70% of the box office. We try to remove the high financial barrier so companies focus their attention on money needed to create the show rather than the money that is needed to hire the space. 90% of the companies that go to fringe festivals lose money for this very reason – with us they may not make millions but at least they will not suffer financially. This means we are very much with the companies because it’s in our best interest to do well. It also means we are helping the community of the theatre which is part of our ethos”
Sunday marked the last performance of The VAULT Festival 2017 and was followed by the awards ceremony. The venue then stayed open until 3AM, inviting all members of the public to join them for one last night full of undiluted entertainment!