GIN AND TONIC AND PASSING TRAINS
Click here for current UK tour dates of Gin and Tonic and Passing Trains.
A visual, comic tale of one man who has too much time on hands and the question of how to fill it. Drawing upon various disciplines such as, object animation, mime, clown, bold storytelling and strong characterisation. Gin and Tonic and Passing Trains is ‘total’ theatre with the performer at the centre of its creative force.
With nothing for company other than his thoughts, an intermittent wireless and the sound of trains rushing past, Mr Jones starts to feel trapped in his damp rickety signal box, soon the loneliness, the responsibilities and the endless sounds of bells, drive him to distraction or more precisely to the bottom of a glass.
What starts as a tipple at four slowly turns into a torrent at six and by ten he is being visited by all sorts of spirits. How will he cope when he has unexpected visitors will it be the tipple that makes him topple or will he be pulled back from the drink?
Influenced by the classic Charles Dickens ghost story ‘The Signalman’ this
new visual tale will leave you in no doubt that Gin and Trains do
not make the perfect tonic.
“…by now you will have realised that he speaks, eloquently, with every inch of his being.” – The Herald, Glasgow
“Ramesh produces the best kind of confidence trick – for this lithe, expressive artist has you seeing things that aren’t there!” – The Herald, Glasgow
“…Meyyappan channels every facial tie and body muscle into a precise emanation of his character’s disposition.” - The Straits Times July 2007
“…the production raises the horror tale’s requisite goose-bumps – not with a larger moral of self-sacrifice but with the cruel demise of one little perfectly ordinary life. – The Straits Times July 2007
“Those of you who have not yet seen one of Meyyappan's shows, hold your heads in shame….he may be the best we have.” - The Flying Inkpot 2007
“Sublime storytelling, pure and simple. Meyyappan out-Dickenses Dickens, crafting a tale by turns cheeky, magical and sickening.” - The Flying Inkpot 2007 (December 2007 review – picks of the year)
The show was developed in Glasgow with the support of Scottish Arts Council, Tramway and Singapore International Foundation before touring to Singapore as part of Esplanade’s Theatre Studio Season in July 2007.
Gin & Tonic & Passing Trains continues to tour throughout 2008.
