Bath-based theatre company, The Scullions Neoterics, brought their latest production Autobahn to Swindon at the weekend in the form of seven nihilistic car trips - indicated primarily through the use of car bonnets, to hanging steering wheels, and a dynamic use of diegetic sound through flowing traffic and vehicle indicators clicking away. Despite Shoebox’s confined space, The Scullions Neoterics took the audience on trips across Britain which ultimately unraveled seven different scenarios through ten different characters trying to express their inner turmoil - each is depicted through the construction of language and how it conveys but also misconstrues how we as humans interpret someone else’s dialogue. Every topic was on the table, breaching conversations from drug addiction and child abuse, to Nintendo 64s and Big Mac meals. Through each story, which is without introduction or explanation, there seems to be a search for clarity and structure - not too dissimilar to the undetermined speed limit of Germany’s Autobahn. With each journey there is also an underlying theme of time which is analysed by its progression through age, experience, and relationships. The latter is executed as an immersive piece of theatre - when I asked a guy in the audience if the seat next to his was taken (it wasn’t) I wasn’t prepared for a spotlight to shine down on our row and be in a car journey myself, on the way to an ex’s house. It was an eventful, and unplanned, Sunday to say the least. I enjoyed Autobahn, and seemed to make some sense out of a relatively complex script which would really be a baptism of fire to an infrequent theatre-goer - the play, written by Neil La Bute, is definitely within Brechtian territory. Autobahn is a very ambitious production for such a young company, but was carried out by confident performances. Returning to Swindon for the Fringe Festival in April, the company might consider polishing a few edges in terms of guidance - this could enable a few disorientated audience members to generate some initial context and perhaps sympathy towards some of the characters. As a first viewing I liked The Scullions Neoterics’ aggressive, almost avant-garde, approach and will be curious to see how Autobahn develops upon its return.