Mon 11 Oct, on the roads of Newport
★★★
words: Gareth Ludkin
As we stepped through the open door of the taxi, we were immediately plunged into an intimate and original theatrical performance. For the next 20 minutes we would be driven around Newport, entirely at the mercy of the Tin Shed Theatre Company as part of their original production, Taxi.
As I clumsily found my seat and dropped my bag in the close confines of the taxi, my knee unavoidably stroked that of the drunken transvestite opposite who subsequently rolled into a slurred monologue about his desire to wear women’s clothing – a secret he had until that evening been keeping from his fiancé. The taxi driver pulled away undaunted, as if a drunken transvestite with a pink suitcase and a healthy crop of chest hair, was a normal occurrence for Newport on a Monday night.
Initially feeling like an uncomfortable fly on the wall, it was hard to settle into the performance; especially when sat so close to the performer. I had no idea where the performance, or indeed the taxi, was leading as the transvestite continued to explain (to the driver) that he’d been persuaded by a man at the pub that he should no longer live a lie and admit to his fiancé that he enjoyed wearing women’s clothes.
After the peculiar start and the passing thought that we might be stuck in this taxi for 20 minutes with a drunken transvestite rambling on about how much gin he’d consumed, I began to settle into the performance. Things became clearer as the transvestite stumbled out of the taxi to make way for a Newport scally on a quest for a Dr Pepper to complement his chips. Bumping past each other, this man turns out to be the very same man from the pub who had persuaded the then departed business man/transvestite to reveal all to his fiancé.
Another monologue ensued as he explained (again to the driver) his experience of meeting a business man in the pub who enjoyed wearing tights. The unthreatening Newport scally was entertaining and had us laughing at his comic one-liners as he sowed the plot and characters together. This bizarre tale, which was slowly being reconstructed in the back of the taxi, demonstrated what it must be like for the typical taxi driver who endures his fair share of weird stories and confessional tales.
Pulling into Tesco, the Newport scally, somewhat predictably, made way for the devastated fiancé (I still have no idea why she was at Tesco). Who, on getting into the taxi, completed the circle in this bizarre, interwoven tale. Describing in a further monologue how her boyfriend had admitted his penchant for women’s clothing, instead of proposing, the performance began to run out of steam. By this point, the plot had become a little bit predictable and the monologues somewhat tiring. But despite this, I found the idea behind the performance extremely intriguing, particularly the way in which the characters confess all to the driver and the audience are left as flies on the wall to the passangers confessions. All three actors were excellent in their individual parts – each capturing the peculiar nature of the plot, excellently sowing the disjointed story together through certain lines and passages.
Taxi provided an interesting fly on the wall glimpse into the life of a typically unassuming taxi driver. From drunken couples, loud mouths and gossips, I’m sure the average taxi driver has seen and heard it all. What Taxi managed to do was to bring into focus the bizarre and comedic nature of what can happen in the back of a taxi as whole stories and tales are drawn from the outside world and told and re-lived in the confessional space of the taxi.
The Tin Shed Theatre Company who are based in Newport are still relatively young. Having launched in 2008 their brand of theatre is innovative and exciting; accessible for those who would not typically visit the theatre. Taxi is just one of many performance’s well worth checking out. This weekend Tin Shed’s Operation Black Box production, in conjunction with the Empty Shops Project will be held at, The Old Co-Operative Bank, John Frost Square, Newport, 6-8pm and it’s all free!