The old Co-operative bank, Newport
★★★★★
Words: Kirsty Pearson
We made our way into Newport on a suitably cold, wet and dark Friday night to enjoy the latest production from the Tin Shed Theatre Company, Operation Black Box. Set in the old Co-operative bank in John Frost Square as part of the Empty Shops Project, the venue was a real blink and you’d miss it set up. With no flashy lights, artsy posters, or banners; just a dim light coming from the doorway, the setting couldn’t have been better for some independent theatre at the beginning of the Halloween weekend.
The bank was set up to resemble a crime scene with a bit of blood splattered for effect and written accounts of alien encounters and incidents that had happened around Newport and the bank in which we were standing. Initially, we were both under whelmed. As we stood whispering, trying to decide whether we had been there long enough to be polite, a man, fully clad in a bio hazard suit and gas mask, came out of a locked door and ushered five of us into the back of the bank.
What happened next scared me – and the three hooded teenagers in our group – absolutely senseless. We found ourselves active participants in a scene from a 28 days later style zombie thriller. We were all processed as potential contaminates and ushered into the bowels of the bank for assessment. We were lined up in the cellars and examined by the doctor who was checking to see if it was too late for any of us. Although my heart had started beating a little faster at this point, I still managed a grin, recognising that it was all in the name of fun.
We were then pushed into another darkened room where we witnessed a contaminated person being re-conditioned. I have to admit that this did un-nerve me a bit; he looked, and acted, very much the part and when he began to fight against the doctors, they didn’t need to tell me twice to run. As we ran through the cellars of the bank our ears were filled with cursed screams. Banging and inaudible radio transmissions pumped our anxiety levels.
The sadist in me was pleased to see one of the hoodies we went in with crouching in the corner with both fingers in his ears. But this pleasure was short lived as the suspense continued to grow. My heart was beating so fast I could hear it thumping and I had to keep telling myself that they were just actors and that this wasn’t real.
I fully appreciate that you may read this and think I’m being a little over dramatic but I’m not easily spooked. I don’t believe in ghosts – or aliens for that matter – but this got me. I actually screamed as a woman was pushed to the window screaming; with blood running from her eyes.
As we stood in the bank’s vault there was nothing but blackness and the sound of misery, until a woman appeared in the torch light to give us a stark warning…”it was too late for us” she uttered. I was nearing a panic attack when we were told to run upstairs, that they were coming for us, that it may be too late already. I ran like my life depended on it. We burst through the door only to find ourselves back where we had started, panicked and flustered in front of groups of people who were quite clearly thinking ‘What the…?’ But what could I say? They clearly had similar reservations when they first went into the bank that I had. I didn’t want to spoil it for them, or warn them about what they were about to experience. I wanted them to be as scared as I was.
We weren’t expecting anything from our visit to this empty Co-Operative bank, but we have both been talking about the production to anyone who’ll stand still for long enough. I can’t stress enough that there aren’t enough words to describe how fantastic this production was. In my opinion, these guys are amazing and full of talent and imagination. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for their next production, you won’t be disappointed.