Close Enough To Touch | Theatre503
© Close Enough To Touch I took a break from reviewing in 2023. The pressure of making fringe theatre, navigating a world in which funds and resources are low and expectations are high, got to me. I felt forced, as a creative, to be a show's everything - dramaturg, director, and producer in a professional capacity; but also, on a personal level, champion, nourishment, ontological reason, and more. When a sector is systemically undermined by the absence of economic and cultural investment, every opportunity is a "now or never"; every chance to be bold and creative for the sake of living an experience and learning from it, crashes with having to continuously justify the long-term value of your work's existence. I feel bittersweet, this morning, as I think about this in light of the fresh news of VAULT Festival's closure. In the last 12 years, VAULT has been the London destination for innovative shows that might not find a direction or platform otherwise; personal...