Last night we were invited along to the launch party showcase for Mimetic 2014 – the annual festival in the Vaults beneath Waterloo Station. The festival, now in its third year, aspires to be “ a two week celebration of the very best emerging devised, physical and visual theatre, puppetry and cabaret”.
The venue itself is amazing. The graffiti-covered arches beneath the station will be daunting/inspiring, to taste, but the vaults, signalled by an imaginative sign in the shape of an unexploded bomb, have been transformed into an underground wonderland for avant-garde art. Throughout the run, Pi’s bar will be serving drinks, so you can enjoy the acts whilst inebriated if you wish.
Last night’s compère was Seren Adieu, an amusing Welsh diva who kicked off with a song. Out of the acts offering excerpts from their shows, it was Boris and Sergey’s Preposterous Improvisation Experiment, a group of puppeteers, that impressed us the most, using their dummy to dance a rendition of a Kate Bush song. The other acts comprised songs and comedy routines, which were variable in quality and limited in their impact owing to poor acoustics and lighting. However, if you enjoy seeking out new up-and-coming young comics, there are a few to try at the festival.
To find out exactly what’s going on, and to book tickets, see http://www.mimeticfest.com/.
