A table of actors sat on the stage staring out at the audience, music blaring as we took our seats in the stands of a large warehouse building. As the cast and the audience eyed each other up, I took a look around the Tramway’s venue, ashamedly, my first time inside this space. Located in a retired tram depot in the Southside of the city, they pride themselves on playing a ‘civic role within our immediate community whilst also serving the artistic sector by fostering international dialogue, exchange and partnerships with our global peers and collaborators.’ A merging of the historical and modern scenes of Glasgow, this feels the perfect place for the performance about to ensue.
The group on stage, MEXA, is here from Brazil as part of the biennial Take Me Somewhere festival, run as part of the organisation’s aim to promote and develop radical performance on the international stage. Colourfully and expressively costumed, they stilled as the narrator graced the scene, wearing an exquisite red dress and beginning a monologue in Portuguese: all of which unfolded in front of Da Vinci’s The Last Supper, which appeared on the screen behind them.
The performance, directed by João Turchi, takes the Renaissance imagery of Jesus’ last supper before his arrest and combines it with the theatre group’s own lived experiences to examine themes of community, transience, poverty, and grief. He delivers this through an incredible combination of visuals, soundtrack, and dramatic devices that leave the audience questioning everything they ever knew, both looking outwards to the people around them (not just in physical proximity) and inwards to their own understanding of relationships and the timeframes in which they exist. With the actors displaying a beautiful array of identities and experiences, there was undoubtedly something said that resonated with everyone in attendance. Personally, I was captivated by the actors’ stories of how they came to join MEXA, with many of them spending time on the streets or receiving meals from local aid centres. The transient nature of their beginnings translated into the performance, with the clips of rehearsals showing faces that were not in front of the audience. It was these individuals who inhabited my later reflections, with no explanation as to where they were now, or if they were well: it harshly mirrored my own experiences working with Glasgow’s homeless population.
The real hook of the evening was after a Ru Paul-esque lip sync, combined with the crowd voting for the best Judas. The newly elected traitor of Christ announced that if it was their version of The Last Supper, the audience would be eating too.
Cue trolleys of roasted vegetables, chicken, potatoes, quiche, and a cornucopia of fruits – followed by many bottles of red wine. The audience pulsed with energy as 30 of the viewers became part of the act, taking part in a shared toast, interviews, and even an amusing tarot card reading for one hopeful creative. Around the table, people enjoyed their 10 seconds of fame, indulging in wine, seductively eating grapes, and even sharing a kiss between lovers. Not even the language barrier could stop the immediate and overwhelming sense of community that flooded the theatre, sharing in the joy, grief, and mutual understanding that we will never gather together again.
The Take Me Somewhere Festival will continue until Sunday, October 26th, with so many more brilliant and talented performances taking place across a number of Glasgow’s best creative venues. Take a moment to look at the programme, branch out and challenge yourself, because if there’s one thing I’ve learnt from The Last Supper, it is that art and life are just as fleeting as each other.
See the full programme: https://takemesomewhere.co.uk/2025-festival-overview
Author: Megan Chalmers [she/her] [Instagram: @megsbookpile]
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