Amelia’s Magazine | You Me Bum Bum Train in New Oxford Street, December / January 2011-2012: Review

You Me Bum Bum train sign
Writing about You Me Bum Bum Train is hard work: for understandable reasons visitors, and especially pesky reviewers such as myself (a necessary but somewhat unruly mob) are asked very kindly at every opportunity not to give anything away about what happens on the ‘ride’. And fair enough – once the element of surprise is removed some of the fun undoubtedly goes out of the Bum Bum experience. Even those who have been on previous trains are likely to have a very different experience to ‘virgins’ such as myself.

You Me Bum Bum train Game_Show_Flier
One of the fab You Me Bum Bum Train flyers, which are all designed by show creators Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd.

Immersive participatory theatre is having something of a moment, with the likes of Punch Drunk and ilk encouraging visitors to take part in the theatrical process – which means you, the paying guest, are not going to just sit back and relax. Rather, you are going to be required to remain fully engaged through the 45 minute experience. In a society where we are too often passive viewers this is a refreshing antidote, and probably far more natural to us as humans – in past history all members of a community would be required to take part in celebrations and entertainment. Think fire side rituals or village hall dramas.

You Me Bum Bum train NYE_covent_garden_Theatre
So, what is it okay to say? Well, dress for interactive fun – the website stresses no high heels and no bags or big coats (though these can be left in the cloakroom). Be prepared to fill out a health and safety form, but there’s no reason to be alarmed, creators Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd are just covering their backs. And most of all, come with an open mind and be prepared to get stuck in: you’ll be taking part in the various scenes that you encounter, all of which will whirl past at such frantic speed that you will barely have a chance to register what is going on before you’re on to the next mini drama. The You Me Bum Bum Train crew want you to experience a range of situations that you’d never normally get to experience in one lifetime and however bonkers your life might be I can guarantee that you will. All of it done with brilliant accuracy and believability.

You Me Bum Bum train Umbabungo
Once you are spat out at the end of the ride there’s time to visit the on site bar, which is a great place to catch on the experience with fellow passengers. Due to this year’s popularity (the good word has spread, rapidly) the ride has sold out for December, but today a lottery opens to find passengers for a newly released series of slots in January. So if you fancy yourself a bit of Bum Bum action then get yourself over to Run Riot… and sign up. But whatever you do, keep the experience to you and your fellow passengers. I got a sharp telling off for inadvertently responding to a tweet from a friend who took part as a performer last week. And on that note, there is a cast of hundreds, and the You Me Bum Bum Train are always looking for more volunteers, so if you fancy seeing it from the other side do offer your services – they’d love to have you. I’m thinking of signing up myself….

You Me Bum Bum train
Find out more general info on the You Me Bum Bum Train website and read another great review here by There Ought To Be Clowns, whom I met in the bar afterwards. Amelia’s Magazine contributor Luisa Gerstein was lucky enough to take an early You Me Bum Bum Train back in 2008 – read her review here.

*Enter the You Me Bum Bum Train lottery with Run Riot here!*

You Me Bum Bum Train press shots by Sean Raggett.

Categories ,2011, ,bar, ,brighton, ,Christmas, ,illustration, ,Interactive, ,Kate Morgan, ,Morgan Lloyd, ,Ought to be Clowns, ,Participatory, ,Punch Drunk, ,review, ,Run Riot, ,Sean Raggett, ,theatre, ,Volunteers, ,You Me Bum Bum Train

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Amelia’s Magazine | Du Goudron et des Plumes: Barbican London International Mime Festival 2011 Review

Michelle Lowe-Holder S/S 2011 by Michelle Urvall Nyren
Canadian Michelle Lowe-Holder completed an MA in knitwear at Central Saint Martins and launched her eponymous collection in 2001. She has always included sustainable elements in her collections, view but having children made her think more deeply about her long-term impact. Being mentored by the Centre for Sustainable Fashion was hugely influential in persuading her to work in a fully ethical manner.

Michelle quickly realised that she had always been most interested in the details, so she decided to concentrate on designing accessories in heritage craft styles from all the offcuts that had accumulated in her studio over the years. She has collaborated with photographer Polly Penrose to showcase her new accessories collections through images of unusual beauty.
Michelle Lowe-Holder S/S 2011 by Michelle Urvall Nyren
Michelle Lowe-Holder S/S 2011 by Michelle Urvall Nyren.

Canadian Michelle Lowe-Holder completed an MA in knitwear at Central Saint Martins and launched her eponymous collection in 2001. She has always included sustainable elements in her collections, pills but having children made her think more deeply about her long-term impact. Being mentored by the Centre for Sustainable Fashion was hugely influential in persuading her to work in a fully ethical manner.

Michelle quickly realised that she had always been most interested in the details, site so she decided to concentrate on designing accessories in heritage craft styles from all the offcuts that had accumulated in her studio over the years. She has collaborated with photographer Polly Penrose to showcase her new accessories collections through images of unusual beauty.
Michelle Lowe-Holder S/S 2011 by Michelle Urvall Nyren
Michelle Lowe-Holder S/S 2011 by Michelle Urvall Nyren.

Canadian Michelle Lowe-Holder completed an MA in knitwear at Central Saint Martins and launched her eponymous collection in 2001. She has always included sustainable elements in her collections, click but having children made her think more deeply about her long-term impact. Being mentored by the Centre for Sustainable Fashion was hugely influential in persuading her to work in a fully ethical manner.

Michelle quickly realised that she had always been most interested in the details, web so she decided to concentrate on designing accessories in heritage craft styles from all the offcuts that had accumulated in her studio over the years. She has collaborated with photographer Polly Penrose to showcase her new accessories collections through images of unusual beauty…

Read the rest of this interview and see more illustrations of Michelle Lowe-Holder’s accessories in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, alongside interviews with 44 other ethical fashion designers and 30 fabulous fashion illustrators. You can buy the book here.
Du Goudron et des Plumes Illustration Gemma Smith
Du Goudron et des Plumes by Gemma Smith.

Du Goudron et des Plumes by Compagnie MPTA with Mathurin Bolze started with a swinging platform lowered slowly over the heads of the performers, more about crushing them into the floor. They emerged from beneath, ripping out the innards, transforming the planks into a clanking and clattering playground as the dancers/acrobats/I’m-not-really-sure-what-you-call-them swung adeptly, building and destroying, meeting and parting. Rotating vignettes from everyday life met with random acts of acrobatic grace, often finely tuned for comedic effect – the performers scaling planks to sit, gnome like, at the top, or hanging upside down to mirror each other.

Du Goudron et des Plumes by Ellie Sutton
Du Goudron et des Plumes by Ellie Sutton.

The platform rose, swaying, as paper sheets were unleashed to shadow the manic silhouettes of the characters behind until, in a flurry of motion, the paper was ripped apart. From minimalist jazz to crashing bells the soundtrack was finely tuned to the minutest motion, and as the platform tilted the occupants scrabbled to maintain control, clinging to each other, pushing and pulling. My later reading of the notes tells me this was a metaphor for our unstable future on this earth, and how we can either act together to survive or fail apart. The show ended with them mired in the middle as if aboard a desperate life raft.

Du Goudron et des Plumes Ellie Sutton
Du Goudron et des Plumes by Ellie Sutton.

I’d like to say that I drifted off rather frequently during this show because I’m really pre-occupied with the launch of my new book this Friday, but the fact is I probably would have done anyway… for me, that’s the trouble with theatrical shows that lack a strong narrative. At times the rhythm and flow of the five fluid acrobats had me gripped, but then I would find I’d gone somewhere else entirely as they swung repeatedly from side to side (shit, I don’t have enough drink for 300 guests), the motion acting as a hypnotist’s pendulum to send me off… and when I snapped to the scene had completely changed…a character was half naked smoking a pipe at the end of a plank, the lone girl was cascading through the air astride a rope swing, a man was swinging wildly from the oversized lamp. Director Mathurin Bolze calls this effect “mesmerising patterns.”

Du Goudron et des Plumes by Bertie Simpson
Du Goudron et des Plumes by Bertie Simpson.

This performance was typical of the way that traditional circus skills have been co-opted by mavericks such as Mathurin Bolze to create something much more abstract and intriguing. He certainly seems to be a popular man: the performers took multiple bows and a standing ovation flooded through the packed theatre as the lights came up on the opening night of Du Goudron et des Plumes.

Du Goudron et des Plumes plays at the Barbican as part of Bite until the 29th of January. You can read another interesting review by Ought to be Clowns here. The London International Mime Festival continues until 30th January 2011. My new book, Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, is officially launched tomorrow.

Categories ,Acrobatics, ,Bertie Simpson, ,Bite, ,Circus, ,Compagnie MPTA, ,dance, ,Du Goudron et des Plumes, ,ecological, ,Ellie Sutton, ,Gemma Smith, ,London International Mime Festival, ,Mathurin Bolze, ,Mime Festival 2011, ,Ought to be Clowns, ,theatre

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