A ticket on the Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul will set you back £50,000, whereas, for only £35, you can take the Gatwick Express all the way from Brighton to Victoria AND back! Admittedly, one might argue that the former journey passing through Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, and Sofia might be a little more glamourous, but, hey, don’t rule out the delights of Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill, Hassocks and Preston Park. And you can’t argue that Gatwick Airport is a gateway to the whole world.
But what if, through music, we could transform the £35 journey into something much more magical? Gatwick on the Orient Express (or, more correctly, Orient on the Gatwick Express) is a concert with live music, immersive theatre, and a party — and, yes, it will take place on the Gatwick Express.
Here’s how it will work: 40 participants board the train at Brighton having bought a return ticket (see the example journey below—the actual cost for a group ticket is £146.70 / 6 = £24.45).
The 40 people are both the audience and the actors. The group will be divided up into 8 subsections, each representing one of the cities the train passes through. One person from each group will have had some “pre-training” (no pun intended), and on the journey to London, they will facilitate how they will entertain the rest of the carriage at their designated station. Props will be provided, but I haven’t got a clue how this is all going to pan out – or even whether it will work at all. I expect that this will all be workshoped well in advance. (Wouldn’t it be great if one could find, e.g. a group of 5 Germans for the Munich station etc. – but not entirely necessary).
On the return journey, my fellow musicians, together with Ableton and visuals, will perform a continuous set of music specially prepared for the journey as the appropriate groups do their thing at the appropriate times.
Obviously, more thought is needed—and the most common FAQ is: Will the Gatwick Express allow it? I’m not sure that we need to ask them (and if we did, they might say no) as it’s just a group of passengers who have paid for their tickets on a journey from Brighton to London and back (or is that Paris to Istanbul?).
More about the music here.