The Uncoupling

View South East Asia in a larger map TANDOIDS Current Location: Chumphon, Thailand. Mike’s Weight Loss since Departure 8 Months ago: 10.7 kilos. Judy’s Weight Loss since Departure 8 Months ago: Not saying, but going the right way. Shortest Day’s Ride between Separate Overnight Stops: 1.7 km. THE UNCOUPLING The recent performance of the play “The Uncoupling” is the best yet by the highly acclaimed duo known as 2xtandem. This was street theatre at its very best, as the pair showed once again they are not too old to work when the chips are down. Their audience of bus drivers, ticket sellers, hangers-on and passengers watched enthralled as they uncoupled in public in a few short but action filled minutes. THE BACK STORY The play assumes a degree of background knowledge by the audience, and for those who are unfamiliar with this work it’s perhaps necessary to explain the following. The story begins on a tropical island where the couple have spent Christmas and New Year with family and friends. As the others return home or resume their travels, the principal characters – Mike the Captain and Judy the Stoker – resolve to leave the island too. But their efforts are hampered by a lack of seaborne transport prepared to carry them and their tandem bicycle to the imaginary mainland port of Chumphon, a passage which would save them 250 km of riding through dull and uninspiring countryside. They are forced to return the way they came to the island – on board a car ferry heading in the opposite direction to the way they wish to travel. As they set off, Judy the Stoker is struck down with a sore throat, phlemy chest and various other aches and pains. STREET THEATRE Cut now to the street theatre, and we join the couple once they have disembarked. They have found a bus driver prepared to take them and their tandem part of the way, which is just as well as by now Judy the Stoker is unable to speak and is living in a world of her own.

The driver insists they take their tandem apart so it will fit into the luggage compartment. As the audience draws closer, the couple strip the bike of its luggage. Judy the Stoker stands guard over their possessions at the same time as she delivers a fine performance of an unwell person. The tension builds as someone tries to sell her ferry tickets thinking she wishes to return to the tropical island paradise. Meanwhile, Mike the Captain takes a spanner to bicycle and the audience bites their nails – will he complete the job before the driver insists the vehicle must depart. It’s a race against time, and the five minutes seems an eternity as he releases the gear cables and the back brake cable and finally twists undone the three couplings that connect the machine. The crowd marvels, he has them eating out of his hand. THE CLIMAX In the penultimate act, Mike the Captain strikes his forehead on the handlebars as he stands up to pass the uncoupled machine to the baggage handler. He touches his forehead and sure enough, blood is trickling from a scalp wound. The crowd groans, the baggage handler crams the bike into the bus and the driver fires up the vehicle. In the final scene we see Judy the Stoker applying damp tissues from the pocket of her cycle shorts to the wound in a touching scene that could be interpreted as a demonstration of love on the road. She’s overheard saying “I must stem the flow”. The bus draws away and the audience is left wondering whether Judy the Stoker has perhaps harboured a secret desire to be a nurse. FOOTNOTE “The Uncoupling” was followed by a sequel “The Coupling” a couple of hours later and both performances were repeated the next day as the 2xtandem crew took a second bus to reach the imaginary port of Chumphon