SUBWAY FESTIVAL
IN THE LOOP
Kirstin Innes finds out about the surprises in store for underground passengers - from Elvis impersonators to showgirls and 24-minute plays - during the second Glasgow Subway Festival
t‘s eyery c'tiittttitttc‘t"s nightmare. being stuck in a carriage with a
talker. The sort of person who sitnply won’t respect yottr need to
priyacy in a pttblic place; who wants to ask you questions. or worse. tell you all about their life. Or worse. Try and dance with you.
It's a nightmare that‘ll become all too real fot' passengers on (ilasgow's ('lockwork ()range this fortnight. with the return of the (ilasgow Subway I‘estiyal. two days of frenetic underground on-train actiy'ity w here the performers take oy‘er pttblic transport.
"I‘hey‘re yery small. the carriages. You go leg to leg with cotnplete strangers. and becattse of the way they ‘re laid ottt. you‘re facing each other across an aisle. too.' says .\Iartin ()‘(‘onnor. whose one-man play. Innt'r ('I'rt'lt'. w ill happen in subway carriages across the festiyal. ‘But yott don‘t look at each other. In fact. you try and ay‘oid each otIter\ ey es: yott look at shoes or points on the roof. 'I‘here's all this unspoken etiquette about personal space that happens when you‘re tt'ay'elling.‘
Innt'r (’t'rt'lt' is a (ilasgowised adaptation of the third part of Italian playwright Renato (iabrielli's trilogy Deal/i in the (Try (the first part. .IIo/n'lt' 'l'lirt'ller. which happens in a car driying across a city. was a hit in the 200—1 Iidinburgh I-‘estiy'al Fringe). ‘Renato‘s piece. .\'mn/n'r (M‘s ('lii‘ltl. was designed to be performed on public transport. and was written for the circular train in Milan. [We created a Glasgwegian Version. with localised language
and references. that lasts 34 minutes. which is exactly the length of
one loop of the Inner Circle. I think a lot of people. once they get oy er the strangeness of someone performing in the carriage with them. w ill be able to relate to the character. He‘s a Very normal man. works hard. has a family. bttt is stuck in a commuter rut and has just begun to go through the motions. There‘s a yery particular rhythm to the script. It mimics the motion of the cartiage and at first there‘s a lot of repetition in the language that mimics the day to day pace of someone‘s life.‘ Although it‘s possible to catch specific performances of Inner ('t’rt'lt' by buying an indiy'idual ticket through the .-\rches bo\ office.
‘IT LASTS EXACLY THE LENGTH OF
A LOOP OF THE INNER CIRCLE'
passengers can also trust to lttck just by hopping in the last carriage of eyery train during the festiyal.
‘\\'c"re going to haye a performer on eyery train of the network throughout the weekend.‘ says programmer I’hy Ilis .\Iartin. ':\s well as IIIIH'I' (in/c. tltetes an ongoing soap opera. with different instalments Ill tlilillc‘l'c‘lll L‘ttl‘l‘lttgcs ttc‘t‘ttss Iltc‘ ltc‘lyyttl'lsl \\L'.\k' gill I'.I\l\ impersonators. tigers playing sasophones. miniature Shakespearean plays. I-‘rench showgirls. performance interyentions. stand up comedy. on-train karaoke. classical music attd acrobats. and w e‘yc managed to sttuee/e bands in. holding tiny. tiny gigs in the bottom of the carriage."
If the underground actiyity gets a bit mttch for passengers. .\Iartin is hoping they'll pop their heads up and take part in the actiyities happening oyerground too. "I‘he idea behind the festiyal was to show people all the ama/ing places across the city they can get to using the stibway.'
Stop off at Shields Road for Victorian school-day workshops at Scotland Street School Museum: jump ottt at llillhead for the farmer's market at I)owanhill Primary School: and alight at Kely inhall for breakdance and urban art workshops at Mansfield Park. St Iinoch passengers can pick tip two-for-otte tickets for eyettts at Sloane‘s. the .-\rches and the Shartnanka (ialIery. And Sharmanka has created a kinetic sculpture of Sputnik that will be on show at I’artick. where there will be performances by the Glasgow (iospel ('hoir and aerial performers Spinal ('hord.
'\\'e're hoping that people will pay £3.50 for a I)isco\ery day pass. and spend the day rediscoyering their cityf say s Martin.
.»\s ()‘(‘onnor sees it. the festiy'al is an opportunity to get people to think differently: 'II is trying to show them the world‘s not going to end if someone starts talking to you on the subway.'
Glasgow Subway Festival, Sat 23 8. Sun 24 May. For full listings see www.5ubwayfestival.com. Tickets for Inner Circle can be bought through the Arches at www.thearches.co.uk
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