It is fiendishly difficult to describe You Me Bum Bum Train, the cult interactive experience that is returning to London this week after an eight-year absence. Kate Bond, the co-creator, likens it to a blue whale: “It’s much bigger than you. You’re in awe of this creature. But you’re also terrified of it.” Which may or may not be helpful.
Technically, I suppose, it’s theatre. Audience members are guided through a cascade of scenes, populated with hundreds of actors and extras following something approaching a script. The Times listed it among the “best plays” of the 21st century. But Bond and her collaborator Morgan Lloyd, who met while studying illustration in Brighton University, have no background in theatre nor much interest in it. “I don’t really go to the theatre. It makes me feel claustrophobic,” says Bond. She cites the screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and the absurdist comedian Hans Teeuwen as more formative influences.
