SUGAR COAT Comes to VAULT Festival

From the award winning writer Joel Samuels (A Wake in Progress, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019) and producers of Fringe First award winning show Bobby & Amy (Edinburgh Fringe 2019) comes Sugar Coat, a new live music play about love, loss and lubrication. Based on a true story, this powerful feminist gig theatre show follows the coming-of-age story of a young woman, spanning across eight years of sexual highs and lows, from nineties shag bracelets to 21st century non-monogamous relationships.

Starring Dani Heron (Chariots of Fire, Gielgud Theatre), Gracie Lai (Doctor Who, BBC) and Anya Pearson (lead guitarist for queer punk band Dream Nails), Sugar Coat brings the story of a 16 year old girl with good marks and a flair for music. But when Year 13 starts, her whole life is about to change forever. From bunking classes and using fake ID to snogging boys with greasy skin - she's about to have sex for the first time. However, things don't go exactly to plan. In fact, as the years go by, she has no idea what the plan ever was and how she's supposed to navigate in this sexually confusing modern world.

And she is not the only one. Around 300,000 women in the UK suffer from Vaginismus, an estimated 1 in 4 pregnancies in end in miscarriage, and non-monogamous relationships are at an all time high. Sex is anything but easy. And neither is growing up as a female teenager in the UK where, amid the #MeToo movement, protests outside of abortion clinics are constantly insreasing.

This female and non-binary led production features original music performed by a live band and composed by singer-songwriter Lilly Pollard (as featured on BBC Introducing), with musical contribution from Anya Pearson (Dream Nails). Celine Lowenthal will direct the five strong cast of womxn actors and pop-punk musicians in an uplifting and liberating show about puberty, sex, feminism and reclaiming your body.

Co-writer and musical director Lilly Pollard says: "The story of Sugar Coat is extremely important these days: although it's deeply personal and told as one woman's story, it resonates as a collective female experience. Through the main character, we spotlight topics that still feel taboo, and seem to be shrouded in silence. Setting them to a soundtrack of loud, energetic and angry punk rock feels like a perfect protest. And while many of these songs are fuelled by frustration and outrage, watching an all-female identifying band play them, can't help but feel like a wild, joyful scream of female power."

Tickets are available from www.vaultfestival.com

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