Five reasons you need to see Warped at VAULT Festival

Here are five reasons to unleash your inner East Ender

| London |

11 February 2019

Martin Malcolm's new play Warped is running at London's biggest, boldest and bravest arts and entertainment festival this month. It's directed by Russell Lucas, the co-creator of global smash Julie Madly Deeply and we have five reasons why you can't miss this dark and edgy thriller.

1. It's about the Kray twins

Well, sort-of. Warped features two young men who idolise the Krays, the notorious gangsters who ruled London in the 1950s and 60s. Good East End boys who loved their mum… when they weren't out doing murders. But is it really OK to hold up the Krays as cultural icons in today's cosmopolitan world?

2. This play is dark. Not only is it dark, it's tunnels-under-Waterloo-station dark

Warped plays in a spooky, echoey cavern beneath London's busiest station! It's dank and musky and creepy, so you need nerves of steel and a woolly hat, because theatre doesn't get more immersive than this. If you like scares, shudders and twisted thrills, Warped is for you.

3. Warped asks, 'can you be gay and one of the lads?'

The play's two young men, Matty and Aaron, find more in common than Kray super-fandom. As they seek solace in their laddish, tough-guy icons, their own delicate bromance blossoms. And let's not forget, Reggie Kray was rumoured to be bisexual and Ronnie was openly homosexual at a time when gay sex was illegal.

4. It's about the UK today

Whether it's Me Too, toxic masculinity, or the swirling brew of bigotry and intolerance we see on our streets, angry, out-of-control men are back in the headlines. Warped asks, 'where does all that anger come from?'

5. If you want to see what the Krays would look like now…

You'll find out when you meet Matty and Aaron. As well as real, live, living legends, Warped has ghosts, Monster Munch, a gerbil, lush 'n' lovely suits, two handsome lost young lads and a trick with a credit card you'll never forget.

Come this way, the boys are expecting you! Warped is on February 20th to 24th at 9pm with two shows on the Sunday.