Bold Mellon bring their play Belinda, an honest, absurd, comedy about flatmates and the queer community, to Vault Festival next month.
Writer-perforners Amy-Rose Edlyn and Emilia Nurmukhametova chatted about their show. Read on to find out about the Collective and about Belinda.
Where: The Flair Ground at The Vaults
When: 7-12 Mar
Ticket link: https://vaultfestival.com/events/belinda/
What’s the most valuable thing about being part of a festival like Vault?
We’ve been so excited about taking the show to the Vault Festival! Like many festivals, Vault is a great place to meet other artists and an opportunity to experiment, to try something new, to be bold!
Belinda takes a queer story and looks at it through a migrant lens. What was the initial inspiration behind the show?
Emilia is a first generation migrant from Tatarstan… during the devising period it was fascinating to see points of cohesion and moments of misunderstanding due to cultural differences and universal similarities between the collective.
This massively inspired the friendship of the two characters which is the focal point and grounding of the show!
This show first ran last year. Have you made any changes in its approach with the move to Vault?
The show has changed entirely, because we have changed, as people and as creatives. Something this time around feels a lot more urgent, there is a need to do the show as honestly and as simply as possible!
The show will always evolve and on our journey to Vault, this is something we have learned to embrace and interrogate more.
Tarot reading is a key part of Belinda. How did that come about?
Emilia’s first girlfriend gifted her the deck that is used during the show.
Emilia used to do readings for Amy when they lived together during lockdown quite often…till the cards told them that they have to start a company together… so here is Bold Mellon Collective!
The cards seem to enjoy being spooky in rehearsals over the years with the Devil card particularly liking to show its face.
What’s next for Bold Mellon and Belinda?
Bold Mellon is currently curating an exhibition called ‘Queer Joy’ at Stanley Arts collaborating with Queer Croydon, Croydon Libraries, Croydon Pride and Turf Projects as part of Borough of Culture 2023.
We are also hosting a club night at VFDalston in April and another cabaret night at the Kings Head Theatre in June. Opportunities to take part in these events are coming soon!
Bold Mellon are also residents at the Bloomsbury Baptist Church and are planning more open community events there, so keep your eyes peeled!
Belinda is an enigma really…she grows as we grow. She definitely has inspired us to create platforms for emerging, underrepresented queer artists.
Belinda is our first baby and we hope to develop her further and we hope to see her shine in more spaces!