A Vacuum At the Centre
A TV studio-turned-theme park. A rabbit coal miner with a talking knee; his canary girlfriend who can't quit smoking. A real dame. Two loved-up actors who just found out their parents shagged. A cryogenic head deep inside a bespoke pineapple. And, at the centre of it all, a diamond-encrusted vacuum.
With original writing from Elisabeth Saysell Hughes, (BFI FilmHub Midlands 'Stories to Shorts' Cohort 2024-2025) A Vacuum at the Centre seeks to question the power of class over genuine interaction, and its necessity of performance that constrains our identities, and ultimately condemns us to a life of storytelling.
Produced by Izzy Gunn with funding and programming from the University of Manchester's MIFTA season 2025-26. A Vacuum at the Centre will be co-directed by Ruby Coyte and Elisabeth Saysell Hughes, with set and costume design by Lara Rafot, co-design by Georgia Davies, lighting by Zane Marsland, sound by Finch Hamill, and stage managed by Mariana Peniche.
A Vacuum at the Centre stars Daniel Baffoe as Jack, Summer Marshall as Alan, Fleur Jones as Marina Shipley, Joe Noble as Jean, Kate O'Connor as Dame Lisa Swedge, and Kara Hughes as Bill Crisp.