The Train Now Departing is a promenade play about the future. The immersive interactive play used two floors of the library (and a dance studio) to bring the future now. As you walk around the library you’ll be taken on a journey through different experiences, with a mixture of audio and visual performances.

The year is 2068, Emily is about to start her new job as a train engineer. She believes in a future where technology transforms the world for the better. When she enters the engine room, she discovers that not all fantasies turn out the way we might imagine. Follow Emily as she makes a difficult choice, fights her heroes, and rescues monsters to create a world she can believe in.

Performance photos

Created over 5 months through Crewe: Beyond Ultimate Reality workshops in creative and digital skills at Crewe Library, a cohort of young people have taken over the library every Monday to dream of an alternative future together with artist collective Re-Dock and associate artists ranging in disciplines from sound installation, projection mapping, digital composition, MineCraft and text adventure game coding.

Crewe: Beyond Ultimate Reality was a library creative arts programme engaging young people in critical thinking & creativity through exploring interactive hands-on activities and workshops. This group worked collaboratively with artists to create the immersive experience The Train Is Now Departing. Designed to explore the reality of young people in Crewe now and in the future, what is beyond ultimate reality for Crewe?

The Train Now Departing from Tim Brunsden on Vimeo.

Workshop photos

Ideas explored were the future of Crewe, asking the Young People to imagine their future, their place in it and explore it in an artistic way. The programme is inspired by Cheshire author Alan Garner’s novel Red Shift which states Crewe is the ‘Ultimate Reality’.