Stud by Paloma Oakenfold at VAULT Festival

STUD

VAULT Festival, The Vaults, Leake Street, London, SE1 7NN
Wednesday 14th – Sunday 18th February 2018 18:15

A DARKLY FUNNY NEW PLAY ABOUT FOOTBALL, FAMILY AND LEARNING TO BE YOURSELF.            

Stud is an acerbic new play from writer and director Paloma Oakenfold (Ass. Director, Lyric Hammersmith) that explores what it means to be gay in professional football and what it takes to be true to yourself. With the support of Arts Council England, Lyric, Hammersmith, and Team Angelica, Stud will premiere at VAULT Festival this February.

“There are currently no openly gay or bi players at any level of male professional football in Britain.”Stonewall

Tom’s sixteen. His family home is falling apart. His mum has left and his depressed Dad can’t pay the bills. The only light in Tom’s life is football: He lives it and breathes it. Going pro is Tom’s chance to make life better, for everyone…. But Tom has a secret, one that could cost him his career. We follow Tom as he weighs his dreams against each other because in professional football, you can’t have both. Stud is a funny, defiant, inspiring piece that explores gender, ambition and what it takes to make dreams come true. Presented as a World Premiere at VAULT Festival in association with Team Angelica, Stud is a celebration of being different.

“Funny and touching and fearlessly truthful, Stud is more than timely, it’s what this world – wrestling as we are with masculinity in crisis – is crying out for” – Rikki Beadle Blair

Paloma Oakenfold comments:
 “Stud is a really fun, touching play and I hope it will speak to a lot of people. It’s been developed with roundtables with LGBTQ+ youth and  we’re doing a week of free shows for footballers aged 16+, so we’re aiming to reach a wide audience. Stud is for people who want to see a story about issues we’ve all encountered – love, family and relationships – and also people who are interested in issues of gender and sexuality. I also hope lots of young men come to see it and can start to think about how constricting certain male behaviour traits can be.”

Reviews for Paloma Oakenfold’s previous work:

“Paloma Oakenfold makes this a sharp, nuanced exploration of the topic of motherhood, fate, class divide and poverty“ – Good Enough Diary on Options at The Rosemary Branch Theatre
Listings Information
TitleStud
DatesWednesday 14th – Sunday 18th February 2018, 6.15pm
Running time: 57 minutes
Location: The Vaults, Leake Street, London SE1 7NN
Box Office: Tickets are available from: https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/stud/     £14.50
Website: https://www.palomaoakenfold.com/ 
Twitter: 
#STUDplay @PalomaOakenfold
Notes: Ages 14+
Writer & Director: Paloma Oakenfold
Designer: Anna Kezia Williams
Lighting Designer: Raj Pattani

Sound Designer: Nick Manning

Dramaturg: Ola Ince

Dramaturg & Mentor:
 Rikki Beadle-Blair
Movement Director: Natasha Wort
Producer: Hannah Tookey
Stage Manager: Meg Hird
Cast: Joey Phillips & Liam Bergin
                       

Paloma Oakenfold 
Paloma Oakenfold is a director, writer and actress. She trained at Guildhall on the BA Acting degree, before completing an MFA in Theatre Directing at Birkbeck. Between 2016-2017 Paloma was Resident Assistant Director at the Lyric, Hammersmith. Her credits include: Bugsy Malone; Shopping and F***ing; Aladdin, Seventeen & Beauty. Paloma was Associate Director on Terror at the Lyric, Hammersmith/QPAC Australia. Paloma is currently directing Fix Us, a devised show with learning disabled artists from company Access All Areas. As writer/director Paloma has collaborated with VAULT, Merge Festival and Robin Linde Productions’ Caravan Shorts. Her acting credits include winner Michael Bryant Award at the National Theatre, E4 series Chewing Gum and ShowTime series The Borgias.