The secrets of the compelling blockbuster show that no one is allowed to talk about

I’m in a hotel in Soho, London, discussing nervous breakdowns with Olivier Award-nominated immersive theater makers Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd. The two best friends’ mantra is “keep going,” and they’ve managed to keep their company. You Me Bum Bum Train, twenty years through trauma, lockdowns, periods of no funding, and now, 19 days after opening night, the set build is three weeks behind schedule.

You Me Bum Bum Train is the most popular compelling show that no one is allowed to talk about. (And no, the name has no relevance whatsoever – the phrase was coined by Bond for a painting before the company’s concept.) I signed two non-disclosure agreements, one for my role as a volunteer on the show and one for as a journalist, and probably the most I can reveal is that the building is multi-storey. I’m not even sure if I can reveal that I’ve been there. However, despite all the secrecy, it is incredibly popular.

The premise is that one audience member, or ‘passenger’, travels solo through many scenes, involving a group of performers, sometimes a large crowd. These scenes, which last about one to five minutes, are incredibly realistic, so it’s like stepping into a moment in someone else’s life. The passenger must respond as best he can to each new scenario he encounters. It is known as the show that changes lives.

Ruby was credits it with relieving her depression and describes it as “the best therapy”. Stephen Fry called it “the theatrical experience of my life”. The volunteers also regularly describe the experience as ‘transformative’: one volunteer left his stale marriage, one lawyer became a comedian, another came out to his wife in the theater bar.

That’s what a volunteer who was homeless said YMBBT helped him turn his life around. “He was someone who had been invisible, but he volunteered and was recognized, thanked and included,” Lloyd says. “He started working at a charity that rehabilitated homeless people across the country.”

“Truly magical” is how Bond describes the volunteer community. “My perspective has changed in recent years. I’ve realized that it (the community) is more important than the show.”

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Currently, there is a chance that the show will not be finished on time. YMBBT will play to 77 punters per night for 33 nights from November 26, and will involve around 20,000 volunteers. That number currently stands at around 7,500 – so more volunteers are needed to make the show possible.

If you’re in doubt, I’ve attended countless shows in my time as a theater critic, and this is one of the best I’ve ever seen. The free labor of volunteers also has nothing to do with making money, YMBBT is a non-profit organization – Bond and Lloyd did not even receive a salary until recently.

“We got paid in 2015. It’s just enough,” says Lloyd, who previously, along with Bond, lived on Universal Credit. “I don’t think people would be impressed with what we’re getting paid now, but you feel like a millionaire after living on £56 a week for 12 years.”

It has been criticized in the past YMBBT don’t pay the actors and volunteers, but Lloyd and Bond say a ticket (£99 for this production) would cost around £6,000 if they paid all the volunteers, so economically it just couldn’t work – the audience to actor ratio is all wrong. Volunteers do receive certified training, if they wish.

Money has always been a problem. YMBBT has not raised Arts Council funding this year and has not received funding from the Culture Recovery Fund after a planned show in 2020 was axed due to lockdowns. It was thanks to a group of wealthy patrons that they were able to continue. In 2015 and 2016, once they had managed to break even, they organized free shows for people in palliative care and key NHS workers. They also donated 120,000 euros for War Child.

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All this, combined with the fact that Bond and Lloyd are the sole idea generators, means there’s a lot to sort out. And so on the topic of mental health.

Bond was separated for three weeks after losing his lucidity and Lloyd suffered a burnout for two years. “Being mad is the loneliest and most terrifying place,” says Bond, “because you are alone and all your worst nightmares are completely real. But it’s also almost a privilege in a strange way. Morgan (Lloyd) always says that every experience is known through contrast and context, so when I want to appreciate my current moment, I look back to that time. It has given me enormous appreciation because I am not angry.”

That idea that every experience is known through contrast is something Bum Bum Train also passes. As a passenger, you have all the contrasts of a life squeezed into this short one-hour experience and you come away feeling like you can handle anything. That experience is generated by these two people, their friendship and what they went through together. After meeting during Fresher’s Week at art school in Brighton in 2003, all they’ve managed to do since then is take this crazy train ride – it’s their life’s work.

I was a passenger in their last show, in 2015. Again, I can’t say much, but there was one scene that will always stick with me, where I was forced to question my validity as a human being. I was treated like I had no rights, and it was a genius bit of empathy creation. There were also moments when I felt on top of the world: it’s electric. That’s the ride.

This year I volunteered for several show nights and had my first rehearsal for one of my scenes while it is still a work in progress. Our group of volunteers practiced projecting feelings of positivity, warmth and love into the room. It felt good to know we could offer a bit of magic to those few lucky passengers who got tickets – it sells out faster than Glastonbury.

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If you want a taste of this show for yourself, the only way to do so now is by volunteering. Believe me, it has no less impact. I love the volunteer experience, there is a huge sense of community and purpose. It’s also great to see the effect of your scene on the passenger; everyone reacts differently.

“It’s rare that you go somewhere for an experience without having to pay for it and feel welcome. I know we ask something of volunteers, but they can leave at any time and they can spend as much time as they want,” says Lloyd.

People make lifelong friends from the volunteer community and realize they are capable of more than they ever thought possible. If you want to participate, no volunteer will be turned away. We are now approaching the ‘finishing touches’ phase of the set dressing. To do this, they are looking for more volunteers who want to perform in the actual show – even if you only have one evening free. Plus, there’s a great bar for everyone after the show.

“It is not a financially motivated project. This is about living, being connected to people and making something special,” says Morgan. Climb aboard and you’ll have the chance to see all the amazing things we can’t tell you about.

Volunteer at Bum Bum Train