VAULT FESTIVAL REVIEW: Sister! ★★

Sister!
The Cavern, Vault Festival
Saturday 8th & 15th February 2020

Festivals can always go one of two ways, and it was only a matter of time before a show would be seen where you wonder why in the first place it was produced. It's unclear whether it's the seating situation in The Cavern to blame, which can be very adaptive to the production, or the lack of projection and story, but this production that celebrates women throughout history is almost not what this production is about at all.

Instead, this 40 minute production rushes around to jump between time periods that make little sense, with not one moment making us feel like we know the characters being presented, which is told through verbatim and movement, not that much of the verbatim can be heard in a venue that does not suit the piece. Though we do get Brechtian signage to indicate dates such as 1941 and 15th February 2030, a decade in the future where there is an urgent need for doctors and nurses in the NHS, we aren't introduced to the lifestyle of the characters, or heroine's as the synopsis suggests, so we are unable to connect and feel any emotion towards what is being presented.

Overall, Sister! is a messy , if not unfocused production that fails to flesh out its characters and locations as it constantly bounces between timezones, with two performers that fail to grasp our attention.