NEXT is the Lombardy Region’s project, organised in collaboration with Fondazione Cariplo with the aim of distributing new live productions as well as promoting and strengthening the network of contacts between operators on a national and international level. For this edition, NEXT will be at the Piccolo Teatro with two shows: Taxi Light Vigil, by the Lumen company, and Tycoons, by the Servomuto Teatro collective of writers, actors, and directors.
Taxi Light Vigil tells the story of Carla, the receptionist at the taxi company Happy Clappy Cabs and Dave, one of the drivers. She is starting her night shift. It is Tuesday, an evening that is usually fairly boring, but something unusual happens. A series of anonymous calls and clues scattered throughout the office lead the characters on what appears to be a veritable psychedelic trip through which they come into contact with their worst demons. In the period between sunset and dawn, their lives are revealed to use through exhilarating dialogue, dramatic monologues, tense waiting and explosive action.
What is immediately striking in considering what happens in this black comedy is that the two characters could leave the office, escape from the situation and break the oppressive triangle that is created by the anonymous guide. They are not locked in a bunker, the world is not coming to an end outside, but, as is the case in works such as Victoria Station by Pinter or in films such as Taxi Driver by Scorsese, Night on Earth by Jarmusch, or others, the night-time world of taxis becomes an existential condition, a place to stay and talk of dreams and fears, just like in Shakespeare’s nights.