Catch a glimpse of dance and theatre in lay-bys and flower-beds; experience the top floor of the bus from downstairs via interactive CCTV; make a soundscape using 'next stop' buttons and rediscover the city through a warped stand-up tour-guide routine. Inspired by the Mystery Cycles and the motor trade, The Ring Road Show, a dizzying journey into the present, has arrived.
Travelling non-stop from nine to five around Coventry's ring road, artists including Wrights & Sites, Motionhouse Dance Theatre, ...SEEN... and Dirty:Theatre, together with local community groups, will explore questions of progress and purpose in a feast of
performance on both floors of a sightseeing bus.
So get on board for an interdisciplinary, multisensory, double-decker chance to pull faces out of windows, scribble secrets on seats and sit next to weirdos.
who:
Simon Day is a freelance theatre-maker and project co-ordinator. Simon was a founding member of The Wrong Crowd, with whom he developed PILOT - an initiative to support the development of new theatre and performance in the region. Warwick Arts Centre in Coventry is the largest arts centre in the Midlands, attracting around 250,000 visitors a year to over 1,600 individual events.
why:
The ring road encircles Coventry's cycles of decline and rejuvenation. It contains its histories, both spatially and as a symbol of 'progress'. The journey from the motor car's conception to its mass production can be seen as the quest to make a machine that gives the common man the same freedom which had, until then, been enjoyed by the privileged few.
Well, we've all got a car now haven't we? Every commuter is free to rush from A to B...or try to. But actually we're stuck in traffic, stuck on the ring road, in our thousands, in our cars, on our own.
where:
Coventry's ring road encircles the city centre which was rebuilt after World War II. Condemned by many, this much-maligned concrete hoop with its maze of dizzying slip roads was once officially lauded as "the Best Ring Road in Europe". Whether you agree or not, Coventry's ring road stands as an appropriate, if baffling, tribute to the spirit of post-war regeneration that saw the city at the heart of Britain's once-thriving motor trade.
when:
Nine unique road shows leave Pool Meadow Bus Station on the hour every hour from 9am to 5pm. Buses run daily for 2 days. Travelcards available from bus station or on board for any 1 trip; any 2 trips; any 5 trips; or all nine trips (Golden Ticket).
Audience capacity 40
Age guidance 14+ excepting two special family journies per day
Venue Access Audit (carried out by the artist/producer).
This is intended as a guide for other artists and producers considering staging an event in the venue. However please note that the guidance given here is a subjective assessment of the venue as of May 2004.
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For key to symbols, see Access page
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Is there a suitable get-in to the venue/site for equipment etc?
Any equipment, props etc would have to get in through the doorway of the bus itself. As the top floor would be used for the performances/installations and the bottom floor for storage and as a ‘green room’, the stairs themselves would have to be negotiated too. On top of this, turn around between different works/cycles would mean such activity should be kept to a minimum. Such restrictions would have to be made clear in the call for submissions.
Is it the venue accessible to wheelchair users? And if not, what would it take to make it accessible?
The City Sight-seeing busses themselves are not accessible for wheelchair users, especially so the open top floor. The bus used therefore should be a 'kneeling bus', affording access for wheelchair users and people for whom the stairs would be difficult.
Work that isn't necessarily reliant on the vantage point of the top floor rotates between top and bottom over the journey, or is programmed on both. Eg. the kids telling stories do 2 revolutions on the top floor before swapping and doing 2 revolutions downstairs.
***Closed Circuit Peri-vision***
Work that needs the vantage point is viewed on the bottom floor via a series of TV monitors linked to video cameras covering front back and side views, as well as action taking place on deck. Viewers downstairs are able to switch between views freely via a switch. The effect is a little like CCTV, and echoes the spy mirror view available to the driver via his periscope. Sound is also relayed live to a series of speakers when required. Eg. The stand-up tour guide is mic-ed.
Passengers downstairs therefore have access to all sound and vision necessary to enjoy the Roadshow, and indeed enjoy a unique mediated experience in itself.
Are there toilets, including a wheelchair accessible toilet?
There are no toilets on board, but there are facilities at Pool Meadow bus station.
Is there an electricity supply?
Electricity supply would have to rely upon batteries, or even a small generator, unless the bus’s own PA was being used for sound.
Are there fire exits?
Fire exit on bottom deck of bus, at the rear and main door-way.
Is there space for bar/hospitality?
No space really for any provision of hospitality, although café in the bus station itself could be used.
Is there space for box office/curator/front of house?
Tickets could be sold on the bus by the driver, at the bus station, over the telephone exchange or from Warwick Arts Centre.
Is the venue/site family or child friendly?
Busses are family and child friendly.
How easy is it to find the venue?
Pool Meadow easy to find, and of course, very easy to get to from most places in the region. Patrons would be encouraged to use bus services to get to the event, including the direct link from Warwick Arts Centre and Park and Ride services.
What might be a good interpretation solution for your show? signer?audio description? another? can it be fully integrated into the concept?
Interpretation solution for shows would depend upon individual performances/proposals.
links: Warwick Arts Centre | Wrights & Sites | Motionhouse Dance Theatre | ...SEEN... | Dirty:Theatre
The Virtual Fringe is © Talking Birds, each virtual project is © the artist(s).
