The Waiting Room

Human behaviour under the microscope

Get ready for a unique and unrepeatable performance that unifies an audience of strangers in the spirit of play.

Upon entering The Waiting Room you immediately ask: where’s the stage? The entire space is filled with rows of chairs. Sit where you will – from the outset, you are complicit in what happens next. As the performance begins to unfold, you are free to sit and watch or to join in and be seduced into collective play and scrutiny.

Interactions occur, events take place and meaning accrues. These interactions are the engine of The Waiting Room, as the line between audience and performer fades as genuine in-the-moment exchanges shape each moment that follows. The stakes keep getting higher, building to an unexpected and unforgettable climax.

Empowering and unpredictable, each show is idiosyncratic, site-specific and driven by a soundscape created live each night.

What are we waiting for? Lunch? The dentist? A job interview? Judgement day? The end?

The Waiting Room is a brilliant psychological experiment and surreal human study of what we do… when there is nothing else to do.

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

“‘Sheer, playful joy” – Tim Richards, Issimo Magazine

“Don’t expect to sit passively in a darkened theatre when you see The Waiting Room because you will incrementally become part of the performance without really noticing” – Kate Herbert, Herald Sun

“Surprising, eloquent, strange, funny, exhilarating, ridiculous, intimate, awkward, original.” – Sue Giles, Polyglot Theatre

Sessions & Times

Friday, 28 March

7:30pm - 8:30pm

Saturday, 29 March

7:30pm - 8:30pm

Sunday, 30 March

7:30pm - 8:30pm

Extra things to know
About the artist

Born in a Taxi is an independent, artist-run and award-winning physical theatre company whose artists are internationally recognised as masters of improvisation. Led by artistic directors Carolyn Hanna and Penny Baron, the Melbourne-based organisation creates original, physically driven and participatory works in theatres, site-specific and outdoor contexts that focus on real-time co-creation.

Born in a Taxi are in a perpetual state of research and discovery, uncovering deeper nuances in the relationship between performer, audience and place through the mediums of dance, theatre, live art, visual art, improvisation and sound.

Where to Go

The Waiting Room will take place inside Joondalup Library.

For more information about Joondalup Library, see Plan Your Festival.

Venue, Seating and Access

Joondalup Library is accessible via stairs, a ramp and a lift from the underground car park.

Food and drink will not be available during the performance but there will be food and drinks available nearby at The Cube to enjoy before or after the show.

Performance Information

The Waiting Room is an interactive performance, with some audience movement required throughout the show.  

The show on Sunday 30 March will feature Auslan interpretation.

Program details
When

28 March 2025 - 30 March 2025

View session times
Tickets

$17 - $19

Suitable for

Ages 15+

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The City of Joondalup acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of this land, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation.

We recognise the enduring culture of the Noongar people and pay our respects to Elders past and present, as well as all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.