Vanity Fair

“All is vanity, nothing is fair.”

This is the 1980s, the world of the New Romantics, Madonna, and the Blitz Club. Into this world of raucous insanity step our troupe of partygoers, preparing to drunkenly regale one another with a retelling of Thackeray’s classic Vanity Fair. Through a spectacle of song, dance, and platform boots, our company brings heroines Amelia Sedley and Rebecca Sharp to stages across the West Country, following their journey through Vanity Fair and upper class London society.

Don’t be afraid, our twentieth century retelling is certainly not lacking in any of Thackeray’s original wit or satirical voice. Instead, our Vanity Fair questions how much we’ve really changed since Amelia and Becky’s time of strict hierarchies, petty social rules, upper class greed, and rigid gender politics. We hold up the looking glass to three specific moments in English history — England in the time of George IV, 1980s London, and contemporary Bristol — and ponder how much society remains the same, and so whether we are living in our own versions of Vanity Fair.

Following a three year hiatus from touring, and a bustling five weeks of rehearsal, our BOVTS second years are ready to hit the road and share this raucous world with you. Welcome to Vanity Fair...