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TRAVELLER
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53
FORGET THE USUAL WEST END SHOWS – LONDON’S THEATRE SCENE
JUST GOT A LOT MORE INTERESTING. WE MEET THE COMPANIES
TAKING AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION TO AWHOLE NEW LEVEL
S A R A H W A R W I C K T I M E W H I T E
SITTING IN A DARKENED
auditorium in the heart of
central London, a hushed group of people are waiting
for a chat show to begin. On the stage in front of them,
alongside a pair of empty chairs, a four-man band
readies itself for the arrival of the host, the star whose
name is up in lights on a huge TV-screen.
But, contrary to what you might expect, the presenter
isn’t known to anyone in this room. What’s more, the
person in question is unaware that they’re even going
to end up here – that in 30 seconds they will be thrust
into the set of their very own talk show. And that’s not
all that’s unusual: the faces looking up from their seats
aren’t an audience, but cast members of You Me Bum
Bum Train, a groundbreaking theatrical company with
4,000 volunteer performers and an audience of one.
Confused? Not as much as the participants who,
during the course of an hour, are led one by one
through a succession of scenarios in which they
play the central role. Imagine finding yourself in a
dentist’s chair having a mouthguard fitted before
crawling through the ceiling and out into a boxing
ring (complete with trainer, fans and angry opponent)
and then – three minutes later and still slightly
punch-drunk – arriving on this sound stage with your
own name ringing in your ears, face to face with, and
about to interview, a real celebrity guest.
Forget red-velvet seating, curtains and backdrops
– a new kind of experimental theatre is jumping off
the stage, out of the box and invading spaces across
the city – in office buildings, shops and underground
bunkers. And the stars of these shows? Well, they’re
quite often… you. But rather than having people