Well, I have just enjoyed one of my funniest half hours ever! Joined by my colleagues and some members of the public we embarked on our High Street Odyssey journey through Ilford Town Centre.
Issued with our ‘shopping bags’ we found our instructions inside telling us to don our headphones (also inside) and follow direction via the headset. Suddenly we became immersed in our own whacky world looking out for our narrator who appeared from a phone box with a wireless headset instructing us from afar to take a good look around and drink in our surroundings. Suddenly he was gone only to appear a few moments later as a litter picker and we were to follow him.
People who we thought were members of the public at large suddenly became characters in our own personal street performance; a man with a pram, a lady eating a burger, a man selling phone contracts. We drew many peculiar glances from shoppers as we laughed and looked and listened to a whistle stop history lesson of the buildings around us.
We began observing shoppers when a lady on her phone caught our narrator’s eye; and then the fun really began as we followed her and watched her interact with many of the characters we had seen; throwing water at a street seller, stealing a bracelet, dancing in a shop window. What was real and what was not, was for us to decide, but it was all so bizarre whilst at the same time being laugh out loud funny.
If you are in Ilford over the weekend, do spare half an hour of your time to join this quirky but thought-provoking FREE street theatre performance, I guarantee that you will not be disappointed. It is an experience that you will remember for a long long time. Be sure to bring someone along to giggle with!
Performances take place at 10.30am, 12noon, 2pm and 3.30pm on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 June. Sign up at the steps to Ilford Town Hall, 128-142 High Road.
The performance is part of the Labyrinth Theatre Festival and is performed by the brilliant cast of Inspector Sands.
For more information about the Festival, which ends on Sunday 29 June, visit the website.
Post Author: Cathy Pace
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