Shelley Snyder, London & UK Curator: Another year of Voidspace Live in the bag; London’s own little immerso-fest weekend where it feels like pretty much everyone doing cool stuff in England ends up in town either showcasing, playtesting, or networking. Thomas was even staging his own production, weren’t you?
Thomas Jancis, London Correspondent: I was once again fortunate enough to come to VOIDSPACE as an audience member on the Saturday and performer of ‘OTKAS’ on the Sunday.
S: Whereas I was able to attend on the Sunday so we had a pretty wide scope of the vibes across the run. I managed to hit four sessions myself, sneakily double-dipping in the 4pm slot but most folks usually manage a maximum of three per day with some visits to the all-day experiences in between. It’s a lot: a full-on all-spoons-spent kind of festival where if you’re a passive observer you might feel like you’re missing out — generally every session is interactive. I went from pretending to be one of a dozen mythical creatures trying to manipulate human expansion in London to a chthonic scholar attempting to bring forth the elder gods…
T: I was able to enjoy a range of shows from birds debating the merits of love through superhero teenagers running for student council to reading love letters on stage while eating a boiled egg. You never quite know what to expect but you hope it is going to be something fresh and a bit challenging.
S: My last session I was a submarine company’s majority shareholder trying to hide engineering faults with the equipment, har har. The offerings cast a wide net. Some of the sessions were in pretty high demand and were booked out early; Voidspace attracts some pretty high-profile developers whose audiences have high expectations so the festival remains a good place to playtest new show ideas without the crushing demand of a locale such as, say, the Edinburgh Fringe.
T: Sitting in the bar area does allow a good amount of people watching.
S: Oh yes. The games going on in between formal sessions were a crack-up to watch and some people were just there to hang out.
T: My friend asks “Are they wearing a cloak as part of a show” and I was unable to answer definitively. There is a lovely sense of camaraderie with the audience all being there to support. People are willing to come and sit at a table with you and start a conversation. I even had people approach me and say “I still have my Stolas rock from last year”.
S: That’s really lovely.
T: The vibes of the festival remain a delight. Already I am excitedly looking forward to the opportunity to return in 2027.
S: With Theatre Deli poised to move locations this year, it’ll be interesting to watch the evolution of VSL. It’s not the first time Deli has moved; as a rule they take space in stalled-development buildings and move on when the owners arrange something more long-term, so every Deli iteration offers new inspiration for creators. Emerging theatre thrives in found spaces and that seems to be the soul of VSL, long may it run.
This year's Voidspace Live was at Theatre Deli Leadenhall Street, and ran from 6-7 June.
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