The secrecy agreement signed on arrival means I can’t tell you about the part of the show where [redacted] is [redacted] on my [redacted]. Nor can I fully describe the flummoxing moment when I’m asked to [redacted] in front of dozens of [redacted]. Even the origin of the show’s eccentric title is a closely guarded secret. But I can tell you this: at the end of You Me Bum Bum Train, the logistically improbable production that has grown a devoted cult following over the last two decades, an A-lister at the bar looks at me, dazed, and asks if I’m real.
Dreamed up in 2004 by two university friends, You Me Bum Bum Train is the near-mythical operation that upends expectations of what theatre is and how participatory an audience can be. “We wanted to create an artform that was about other people,” says co-founder Kate Bond, “to give people rich experiences.” While the concept has grown, it has held on to the same heart. “I’ve never known what I wanted to do in life,” says Morgan Lloyd, the other half of the duo, “but this project gives a sense of meaning. It has a really profound effect.”
