ENVELOPED IN VELVET
Written by Piers Black
dir. Cat Robey
Flow Salford; BasicSpace London; Arts Theatre London
Four people strive for raw sensation amid beer, neglect and teeth.
In a series of interweaving monologues, these characters expose the struggle between how they really feel and how they’re conditioned to feel. Connected but separate, their stories eventually collapse and collide towards a shared place and a shared experience.
In this fiercely honest investigation of human connection and social isolation, the audience are placed at the very centre of the experience.
This was a new play by Piers Black, winner of the BBC Alfred Bradley Bursary Award, developed with HOME and IdeasTap. Enveloped in Velvet was a site-responsive piece of theatre, appearing in a railway arch as part of Flow Salford in September 2015, then an abandoned house in Peckham as part of BasicSpace Festival before finally being staged in a bar above the Arts Theatre in the West End.
“A fine example of the art of immersive theatre" ★★★★ - London Theatre 1
"Stark honesty coupled with acute vulnerability echo the memorable depictions of a disillusioned youth during the nineties recession: recalling gritty moments in Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting" - The Public Reviews
"Enveloped in Velvet is a unique theatre experience ... One of the best things I've seen" - A Younger Theatre