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TRAVELLER

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57

but when we were setting out it was much easier for us

to find buildings, because no one else was really doing

it,” jokes Barrett.

As London gears up for a summer in the spotlight,

a huge number of organisations are embracing

the immersive format as part of their celebrations.

Battersea Arts Centre is collaborating with other big

players to make Babel, an outdoor extravaganza with

a cast of 500 (

see sidebar for more on this

), while the

Barbican is promoting the biggest-ever happening of

Bum Bum Train.

At the other end of the scale, in a vacant shop in

east London, small company RETZ are taking full

advantage of Cultural Olympiad funding to stage their

debut,

O Brave NewWorld,

a reworking of

The Tempest

into six immersive plays to be staged over six months.

Visitors to the set, loaned by Hackney’s Art in

Empty Spaces scheme, will find themselves in a

dystopian world full of

Lost

-style, post-shipwreck

flotsam props and might be called upon to talk, drink

and even compete in impromptu games of table

football with the cast. As well as the twice-daily shows

playing to twelve people at a time, the shop is open to

passers-by, who can come in for a cup of tea. “It’s about

making it accessible to everyone,” says Josh Nawras,

one of the company’s directors. “Anyone can wander in

and get a bit of

The Tempest

.”

Even those who abhor audience participation must

acknowledge that this literal opening of doors to

smaller companies has made London’s theatre scene

a far more varied and interesting place. In addition to

funding, those in the know say that the internet has

made all the difference.

“Traditionally, it was very difficult to get a space,”

says Mat Burt of the Heritage Arts Company, which

specialises in site-specific shows around the country.

“The minimum used to be 10-week runs in the West

End at £50,000 a week, so there was a massive gap

between big shows and amateur dramatics. Now, if

you have a good idea, you can set up a pretty website

that gets publicity and creates your own audience.”

Mat and his partner, TimWilson, were responsible

for curating the critically acclaimed Vault Festival back

in February, which saw several of these groups band

together in the Old Vic Tunnels, disused railway arches

at the rear of Waterloo Station. One show in particular

caught the critics’ eye: for Silent Opera’s

La Bohème,

ticket holders were handed a set of headphones,

through which a brand-new recording of the opera was

piped, while they enjoyed opera “let loose”, wandering

through sets at their leisure and interacting with

characters from the story. “One paper described it as

‘You Me Bohème Bohème Train’,” laughs Mat.

Back at the real You Me Bum Bum Train, the air

of the chat show has the expectant quality of a movie,

paused. Suddenly, the dimmed lights flare and a voice-

over booms, “And here’s our host…” As his name fills

the studio to uproarious applause from the observers,

its owner staggers into sight, bewildered, eyes darting.

For a fraction of a second it’s like watching an accident,

time slows as shock and fear freeze him to the spot,

but then, in one perfect second of realisation, his face

breaks into a broad, bewildered grin. The look says it

all – the situation is pure, glorious insanity.

FEATURES

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LONDON

Right

,YouMe

BumBumTrain’s

creators, Morgan

Lloyd and Kate

Bond in the old Post

Office building used

as the setting

for themost

recent show