Fringe Extra Barnstaple
Cab Ride to Ronnie’s
Christopher Hill
After originally creating a short solo piece at Falmouth University in 2024, I have developed and expanded the story to be shown to a wider audience.
The show centres on a London Cab Driver who reminisces about his first visit to the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in late 1980s. Through a combination of immersive storytelling, physicalised theatre and musicality, the audience join the protagonist on a journey through the streets of London, encountering a variety of personalities along the way!
Created as a love-letter to Jazz music, and the importance of pursuing your passion no matter what!
Review by Jo Fisher 01/07/2024
A cabbie with a love of Jazz; one night at one of London’s most prolific music spots; and a chance encounter. ‘Cab Ride to Ronnie’s’ is Christopher Hill’s first performance at Theatre FringeFest, fresh from finishing his acting degree, and it’s as slick and smooth as the music that inspired it.
We are transported to London, where a man raised on a council estate takes us with him to achieve his lifelong dream of watching live jazz at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club. Music and fluid movement combines with monologue and even song to take us on a smokey, sultry journey, meeting a few intriguing characters along the way.
Christopher presents us with an extremely likeable character. He works through the space beautifully, harnessing its potential and interacting with the audience *just* the right amount. He springs through aisle spaces – even sliding around on an office chair that transforms from the front seat of a Black Cab to a sofa in a council flat. His physicality brings energy into the room in the same ebbs and flows as the beats themselves – frantic movement followed by intimate and personal moments.
This story is about the power of music, the classlessness of art and creativity, and the importance of truly enjoying what you love, wherever life leads you. It has nostalgia woven through it, and is, in my view, just the right length – perhaps running for the same amount of time it might take to hop in a cab to somewhere exciting.
Christopher clearly enjoys himself greatly on stage, and this first foray into sharing this piece is a successful one; ‘Cab Ride to Ronnie’s’ is sure to entertain and intrigue jazz cats and critics alike.
Please note limited access and no wheelchair access to St Anne's