Paula Varjack

Multi-disciplinary artist

Paula Varjack is an artist working in performance, video and participation.

In every show she makes, Paula aims to find the balance between making audiences question themselves, and feeling like they have had a fun night out.

She uses storytelling to take audiences on a journey, shining light on what some might find uncomfortable, or may not have contemplated before.

Multi-disciplinary artist Paula Varjack recording for Indestructible, a podcast produced by Creative Kin.

“When I think specifically about that film, Manhattan, and also about Kill Bill… once I knew about the behaviour that happened on set of both those films, I can never enjoy either of those films ever again.”

Paula Varjack appears in Indestructible

Paula is a London Pleasance associate artist and a Barbican Open Lab artist. She has been commissioned to make work by The Barbican, Battersea Arts Centre, Camden People’s Theatre, Fuel, The Marlborough, Attenborough Centre for the Arts, Upstart Theatre, Beam, and First Draft Cabaret.

She is the creator of the Anti-Slam a satirical take on Poetry Slams where the lowest score wins.

In addition to creating, she facilitates writing and performance workshops with a wide range of age groups, and mentors emerging artists on developing their creative practice.

Born in Washington D.C. to a Ghanaian mother and a British father, out of many places Paula has lived she considers east London to be "home".

Paula’s show The Baby Question, made in collaboration with theatre-makers Luca Rutherford and Catriona James, almost didn't make it to production.

Paula began developing the show in 2017. As the show matured, a planned stage production scheduled at Battersea Arts Centre was derailed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Paula was determined that the show should debut in a theatre, in front of an audience.

However, forced to confront the possibility of The Baby Question not being able to go on stage at all, Paula decided to jump rails, and move the show online.

To maintain to the sense of an audience coming together to share a common experience, The Baby Question was presented on the platform Gather, where ticket holders were admitted to the show, and re-convened afterwards to talk about what they had seen.