Libraries After Dark - The Waiting Room by Born in a Taxi

Libraries After Dark is proud to partner with the Portland Arts Centre's PAG to Go! program to present Born in a Taxi's The Waiting Room in and around the Portland Library. It's LAD with a difference - the library will be closed from 5pm to host this special ticketed event!

Waiting.

It may evoke an airport lounge, doctor’s surgery, dole office, job interview, or purgatory.

Waiting.

Waiting for a change, for a break, a diagnosis, for better times, for the paint to dry, for love, for a verdict, for death.

Enter The Waiting Room and you immediately ask: where’s the stage? The entire space is filled with rows of chairs. Sit where you will - there are no rules. You're free to sit and watch, or join in, while Melbourne's masters of improvisation seduce the audience into collective play, or scrutiny.

Either way, from the outset, you are complicit in the show’s creation, as both spectators and participants bring their own histories and imaginations to bear. The line between audience and performer fades, as genuine, spontaneous exchanges shape each moment that follows.

The Waiting Room places collective human behaviour under the microscope, from the banal to the absurd, as increasingly ridiculous scenarios unfold. In the waiting, interactions occur, events take place, connections are made, and meaning emerges. The stakes keep getting higher, till finally one person's wait is over...

Empowering and unpredictable, each performance of the show has its own unique, unrepeatable moments. Non-verbal and accessible, it is a performance for everyone, across culture and age.

“What makes this piece radically beautiful is that it interrogates and embodies the random processes intrinsic to human behaviour. Informed by physical theatre, social psychology and neuroscience, The Waiting Room is a living incarnation of fractal art….cutting-edge experimental theatre: a profound exploration of how we choreograph ourselves from chaos” Cameron Woodhead, The Age

When

Thursday, 24 July 2025 | 07:00 PM - 08:30 PM

Book Now!

Event Snapshot

Cost

$10-15

Audience Advice

Show commences at the Portland Library at 7:00pm, and runs for approximately 60 minutes followed by a complimentary supper.
Recommended for 16 and up.
Places are limited, so please book ahead to avoid disappointment

About Audience Participation and Accessibility

The Waiting Room is not a traditional, static piece of theatre with a hard line (and hard rules) between stage and audience.

It moves though different locations, and invites the audience to actively participate in its creation. This may include moving around the spaces, crawling, crouching, and laying down.

This is not compulsory, and accommodations will be made so everyone can participate with whatever capacity and desire they have. Each person's unique response to the situations that unfold are what make The Waiting Room magical - whether that's to throw themselves into the spotlight, or judge as a silent observer.

We want to make The Waiting Room and unforgettable night for everyone, so if you have questions or concerns around any specific physical, cultural, sensory, psychosocial, or other access needs, contact us to discuss them, or let us know when booking your ticket.