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A taxi opera
7 Mar 2007Famed for their ability to talk continuously, London's black cab drivers are now using their voices for opera.
If the route: the great learning of London (a taxi opera) is a collaboration between artist Beatrice Gibson and musician Jamie McCarthy.
It is based on the battle fought by aspiring cab drivers to memorise 30,000 street names as they try to pass The Knowledge.
The 50-minute opera features pairs of trainee cabbies reciting routes to and from addresses across London.
They will be accompanied by a string quartet, improvising music to complement the drivers' words. The musicians will give each street its own note, which they feel portrays that part of the capital.
If the route: the great learning of London (a taxi opera) takes place 9 March at 7.30pm. Studio Voltaire, Nelson's Row, Clapham Common (020 7622 1294, www.studiovoltaire.org). Admission free.
