The Vaults, housed under Waterloo station, is one of my favourite spaces in London and it’s always producing surprises.
The venue, which is known for its wacky immersive productions, is currently hosting a brilliant show titled Divine Proportions.
It instructs guests to ‘wine, dine and celebrate life’ and the steamy atmosphere of the place certainly enables this.
I popped to a showing on a Friday night and everyone nervously waited in the bar area for the show to unfold.
To ease the nerves, I delved into the fabulously themed cocktail list.
A smokey rum twist on an old fashioned and a white negroni were both winners and felt ready to descend into the depths of the underworld.
The Divine Proportions show is based on the story of Dionysus, the God of Wine and Merriment.
And before I knew it, I’d been swept away by this sentiment.
From the bar, three lovely ladies came and led us through a vagina-nispired pink tunnel to the dining area.
It was getting a little bizarre!
After a starter course of bread and oils, we sat down for the next four course which would be served as the show unfolded around us.
The production is described as a ‘free-form exploration of female beauty and sensuality, personal freedom, expression of gender fluidity and sexual desire’ and I could see some men with their girlfriends looking a little bewildered as to what was going on.
The menu was deliciously in keeping with the theme, with a salivating mix of dishes inspired by pure indulgence,
To start there was a tasty seaweed salad for vegetarians, while the rest tucked into sea bass ceviche.
Next up was a stuffed green courgette, with a roast guinea fowl breast for meat eaters.
The palate cleanser took things up a notch, with a heady blend of cardoman vodka, turmeric and lemoncello.
The banquet was rounded out by a coconut milk and maple syrup panna cotta. There was also a caramelised white chocolate blend on offer.
A blurb for the show told me to expect a ‘heavenly night of wining, dining and raucous entertainment inspired by the story of the God of Pleasure and Mischief.’
This promise was certainly delivered.
I don’t want to give too much away, but Divine Proportions is definitely an immersive dining experience worth checking out.
From vagina-shaped tunnels to shots of turmeric and buxom ladies, it certainly makes for a wacky and wonderful ride!
Laura Drake Chambers, the creative producer of Divine Proportions, concludes: ‘The world of Divine Proportions is the inclusive utopia I dream of, and whilst that world remains mythological, we’ll keep working our butts off to bring our dreamworld to life.
‘It’s raunchy, sexy, unapologetically loud and if our audiences have as much fun experiencing this show as we’ve had creating it, we’ll have done Dionysus proud.’
The Vaults is located at Leake St, Lambeth, London, SE1 7NN
Tickets for Divine Proportions start at £35. For more information please visit thevaults.london/divine-proportions
