TAXI

There’s no glass wall in the taxis of Lithuania separating us from the drivers like in the cabs of UK. In most cases, however, there is an invisible wall between us and them. Always we sit close, sometimes we talk, but these conversations slip out of memory soon after the trip is completed. It is symptomatic to our society. We are connected as never before, yet increasingly we live in enclosed worlds of our own, tailored to our preferences, habits and routines. What happens outside doesn’t really matter.   

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The interior of the car is an extremely intimate space. It is a perfect space for sharing stories. Can it also be a perfect space for theatre? 

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In the new show, drawing from our diverse experience in documentary theatre and digital storytelling, we want to use this intimacy to open the worlds of the taxi drivers. We want to turn a taxi into a storytelling machine that moves the audience in space and time through the worlds they normally can’t or don’t want to reach and explore. These worlds are the dark corners of the city: remote sleeping areas, parking lots, casinos. But they are also the dark corners of our own consciousness. It is through them that we explore our tendency to shoot our eyes and ignore issues like migration, exploitation at work, nationalism, drug addiction, etc. 

The taxi drivers will be the storytellers and their stories will form the basis of the script. We will look for the characters spanning different generations, backgrounds and nationalities. From the old school driver who knows the city inside out to a student who drives twice a week to get additional cash. From a local of Kaunas who feels underpaid and overworked to a Ukrainian who sends money back to his family in Donbass.  

The taxi car will function as a platform that organically enhances the storytelling: it’s audio system, screens and interior features will be used as microelements to help the drivers tell their stories in a unique way. There will be a fixed number of taxis that the audience will request during the duration of the show through a special app. 

This network of taxis will form the network of stories that will open up Kaunas’ streets through the window of the car. 

Yet, while observing the streets, in the reflections of city lights on the window, we will be able to spot a reflection of our own face.