Jack Johns in The Dog and the Elephant

There is something extra special about going to see something at the Vaults beneath the railway lines behind Waterloo Station. Moodily lit, with trains rumbling overhead this maze of performance spaces connected by cafe and break out areas feels like a secret creative club with the graffiti artists of Leake Street guarding the entrance.

A one man show like The Dog and the Elephant suits the space perfectly. Set in the seedy underworld of Victorian bare knuckle fighting you could imagine the vaults being used for such illicit sport.

Matt Grinter's play follows the story of Bendigo 'dog' Barlow a boy who stammers and stutters, involuntary releasing expletives and soon finds communication is best done with his fists. His mother is having an affair with a priest and his father doesn't seem to care.

He is drawn into a gypsy community where his skills with his fists prove useful. There is money to be made fighting and settling scores for people. He constructs himself a life forming bonds of sorts with some of the gypsies but the strongest bonds are with animals.