I haven’t written here in a while. Sorry. Real life. You know.
I imagine it’s ironic that since working at Waterstone’s I’ve written less.
So i went to London yesterday. It was such a wonderful day for all the unexpected reasons. It was a day of human generosity and chance encounters. Clearly the reason for my being in London, namely to earn a decent living on the stage, was destined to be secondary to these moments. Christmas at Waterstone’s appears to still be a reality and the phone hasn’t rung. But the day wasn’t a failure. It was filled with awesomness
This is a yarn about the good things people do.
When you meet someone for the first time, you have no idea how they will impact your life. Like my friend Matt’s new flatmate. When they walked into Waterstone’s and i took five minutes to chat to them i never thought this man would save my neck thirteen days later.
So i get the call for this audition, i find out i have to sing two songs that show my upper range. Oh my god! Now, i love musical theatre but I’m no natural. Six days to find, learn and perfect two songs? With my portfolio in an attic, in Devon? With no pianist? Where’s Anneka and her jeep? Three days later I’ve got one song and I’ve learnt the lyrics but little else. I’m panicking so i call the one person who can help, Matt. He has a voice beyond amazing and sheet music organised in plastic covers. He is good. But it gets better. As i head to his new flat, what do i discover but the one thing i thought I’d never find. His new flatmate, someone i exchanged pleasantries with in a bookstore turns out to only flipping play the ol’ Johanna. We became friend’s around his girlfriend’s piano as i crammed thirds, fifths, beats and lyrics into my brain.
Songs safely in head and sheet music photocopied and crisp, I was off to London. When an old woman had caught the wrong train and the guard was demanding she pay an extra £115 for her mistake, she burst into tears.
She was on her way to London to see her son for the first time in a year. He was being flown home from Afghanistan. She couldn’t afford the extra cash. The guard wasn’t one for sympathy and demanded she pay now or suffer a greater fine for not coughing up.
And then, out of the blue, a tall man with long, curly blond hair stood up. When he asked the guard to give her a break, he refused to let up. So what does our hero do? He speaks to the carriage. He walks up the aisle and retells this event and then holds out a paper bag. “Let’s all pitch in and help this lady pay for her ticket.” I’ve never seen people put their hands in their pockets so quickly. People were throwing pounds and pounds to help this old woman out of the trouble being forced upon her by a man keen to stick to the rules. The guard was not impressed and shouted “What you are doing is illegal! If you don’t stop you’re going to be arrested.” . People fought back. “It’s our choice”, ” This is charity”. It was amazing. The armed police that met the blond man at Euston makes me think his story doesn’t end here. But you can’t expect much understanding from people who feel the need to wear bullet proof vests.
Don’t you love it when you walk up to a cross roads in sunny Southwark and standing on the other side is a boy from Jersey you last saw in August, when you were drinking together at six thirty in the morning with mutual friends around a wooden table in a kitchen of an apartment in Edinburgh? As far as chance encounters go, this one has to be pretty high on “chance”. Not only that but it turned out my audition was in the same building he was rehearsing in! A show i now feel the need to see even more. This guy, also called Johnny, is a great actor and was in an amazing show at this summer’s Fringe. A three hander at midnight with free wine, nudity and philosophy. Fresh air from Shakespeare I tell you!
I enter the station, my songs sung and feeling content, and i cross the hall towards Burger king, supporting cheap meat and cattle grazing in deforested areas of the Amazon rain forest, when a voice comes running up to me from behind. “Excuse me, excuse me!” i turn around and a teenage schoolgirl is holding my train ticket. “You dropped this by the door”
“Wow…thanks”
When i checked my wallet for cash as i entered the station it must have fallen out. Lucky. I wouldn’t have wanted to fork out £115 for the full fare now would I?
People are amazing. While the government is trying to make us paranoid about every person you cross paths with, it’s clear the world is actually full of people who care about each other and want to do the right thing. People who don’t wear bullet proof vests but people you meet, drink with and bump into in other countries.
Life’s good. Be your good.