The first rule of ‘You Me Bum Bum Train’ is: you do not talk about ‘You Me Bum Bum Train’. Participants staggering towards the exit are asked to keep the contents of their experience to themselves, which, of course, makes reviewing the show rather tricky.
Actually, it’s not a show, but a ride. And a careening, confounding, exhilaratingly twisted one at that. Originally created eight years ago by Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd, 'YMBBT' has developed from sideshow to a fully-fledged alternate reality, transporting audience members, one at a time, through a series of remarkably convincing scenes, in which you are the leading player.
As the venues get bigger – this time it’s an old Post Office sorting office near Tottenham Court Road – so the show gets ever more hands on. The ‘bum bum train’ originally referred to a wheelchair you were pushed around in, but in these days of interactivity, do not expect to be a passive spectator.
This is a show that lets you play out fantasies you never even knew you had. It makes you question your instincts, your actions and your freedom – does the show control you, or do you control the show? And it’s full of gobsmacking moments that fly past and leave you trying to grab them back. It is also, it must be noted, a hugely impressive feat of stage management.
You could call 'YMBBT' a mind-altering trip or just a glorified ghost train, but no ordinary night at the theatre spits out its audience on such an adrenaline high, leaving a bar full of wide-eyed motormouths, all breathlessly babbling at each other, comparing notes and reactions. It’ll leave you feeling that little bit more alive. And that’s something it’s hard to keep quiet about.