Short Summary
Watchya! We are the collaborative team bringing Gun to your Head by Simon Jaggers to VAULT Festival 2023, London's most exciting theatre festival for new writing.
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* A DEEP DIVE INTO THE POWER OF YOUTH AND A HOWL FOR BELONGING *
Gun to your Head is about two teenage misfits on the run - Bede from his unstable home and Dakota from her latest foster family. The plan? Create a media shitstorm big enough so that Dakota’s birth mum will hear about it and come to the rescue.
Hiding out in an abandoned quarry in the woods, they enjoy their newfound freedom. But what dangers lurk deep in the guts of England? The Ghost Tramps of Junkies Cave, the police and search parties hunting them down, the Beast of Britain that all those Red Lion pubs are named after. Ultimately they must decide whether to stick together or split apart…
In this riotous punk-play of pop culture, games and reddit folklore, the stakes keep rising. Gun to your head… what could go wrong?
Around one in ten children in the UK have been neglected, making it the most common form of abuse. This is a play that centres and celebrates two such kids so that our audience members can connect to the real people behind these numbers.
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Gun to your Head at VAULT Festival 2023 is the highly-anticipated full-length stage
premiere by Simon Jaggers. We have been developing this play for over a year; Research and Developing it with multiple casts and showcasing early extracts at Southwark Playhouse and The Bread & Roses theatre.
This production is about to shake London up, push the traditional boundaries of theatre making and centre forgotten voices on the big stage. Your contribution will help make this all happen- and check out them perks!
Others have said.....
‘Simon Jaggers is a visionary from England’s wastelands. A poet finding beauty in the broken. Gun To Your Head is a celebration of a play. Like a Disco Pigs for England’s ghost hours. It’s so beautiful it’s actually ludicrous.’
- Simon Stephens, Playwright
‘Simon Jaggers writes with precision, wit and humanity. He’s a playwright of real promise.’
- David Eldridge, Playwright and Screenwriter.
Performance Details:
Tuesday 14th Feb - Sat 18th Feb
20:30,14:30,18:10 (70 mins)
The Cavern, The VAULTS, Leake St, London SE1 7NN
https://vaultfestival.com/events/gun-to-your-head/
Cast and Crew:
Simon Jaggers- Writer
Giacomo Esposito- Director
Rosa Torr- Producer, Dramaturg
Shane Gill- Lighting and Sound
Abbie Grundy- Intimacy Director/Coordinator
Cast TBA!
What We Need & What You Get
We need £5000 to get this show on the road.
We are raising £4500 to go towards paying stipends to our cast and crew. We are ensuring our talented and hard working team are paid equity standard for the 3 week rehearsal period and week of shows.
We are raising £400 to support expenses for our creative team, cast and collaborators.
We are raising £200 to go towards print materials so that we can get the word out there.
We are raising £150 to pay for costume and props- this show does not have a set so we need to get the details right to build the rich world of the play.
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Not only will you be helping us make this extraordinary project happen, we have some incredible perks for our backers including Art Prints, Zines, Theatre Workshops and so much more, because we love you!
The Impact
By supporting this project you are supporting independant theatre! Theatre Makers took a big hit during the pandemic, many of us lost our livelihood and some of us wondered whether it could ever happen again. Any support you can give to the arts in general is so appreciated.
Gun to your Head centres two misfit teenagers who grew up on the fringes of society. We need to keep stories like this alive; stories that centre unheard perspectives and celebrate youth voices to inspire the next generation of theatre-goers.
Our entire creative team has a proven track record of delivering theatre projects and have all received formal theatre training. This is our first collaboration together but we believe that this is only the start of something very special. It's a rare and magical thing to find artists you can collaborate with and that you trust enough to embark on an intense creative process, your contribution will help us achieve our vision and set us up for an exciting new venture.
Risks & Challenges
Theatre always comes with risks- time! money! sickness! But this is the twisted adrenaline that all theatre makers love to hate. We are passionate and professional at what we do and have a proven track record of delivering good theatre- check out our websites! (above).
Fundraising also comes with risks- we might not make our fundraising goal. But rest assured, we will persevere and continue fundraising efforts because we believe in the importance of this project. We also believe it is imperative that the creative team are paid at equity standard, because we value the work, time and craft of our cast and crew.
Other Ways You Can Help
Some of you may not be able to contribute at this time but the good news is, that doesn't mean you can't help:
- Spread the word about our campaign- copy and paste the link to this page onto your social media encouraging others to help who might be in the position to.
- Remember to hashtag #GTYH23
Thank you!
