Whenever I hear the phrase ‘The Show Must Go On,’ I am taken back to my teenage years, where I witnessed a calamitous yet wonderful performance that continued despite the elements.
I was 16 years old when, during a family holiday to Cornwall, we went to see an outdoor production of ‘Sherlock Holmes’ staged in some botanical gardens. Rounding off a holiday of beach visits and fossil museums, my parents had decided to inject some art and culture into the vacation with a last-minute theatre trip.
Our auditorium for the evening was beautiful - a small platform surrounded by a luxurious collection of exotic flowers, dramatically uplit in the gathering darkness. Feeling calm and at one with nature, we laid out a picnic blanket on the grass and tucked into sandwiches as the performance began, with Sherlock and Watson hot on the heels of a dangerous criminal. The game was afoot, the sandwiches were tasty and the bright array of blooms around us were a sight to behold. It felt like the perfect end to a glorious holiday, that is until a few light droplets of water began to drip from the sky…
These droplets gathered into a shower, which grew into a downpour, which, just before the interval, developed into a torrential downpour. The now anorak-clad audience gathered in the café, a small building sufficient in size to accommodate what audience remained, with many members having surrendered to the storm and gone home. Against the sound of rain pounding on the roof, we all joked cheerily amongst ourselves about the ‘typical English summer’ we were experiencing. However, when it was announced that the second act was about to begin, we returned to the open, unsheltered auditorium with trepidation. Having started the play feeling enchanted by nature’s beauty, we now feared its unpredictability.
What followed was the most remarkable piece of theatre I have ever seen. Lights flickered, microphones cut out and stage make up ran down the actors’ faces. And yet, the show truly went on. The performers dramatically scooped up chairs to pour the water off them before sitting down. This being a production set in Victorian times, letters played a key part in the proceedings. Actors exchanged envelopes, which were now reduced to pulp, and proudly announced “this WAS a letter for you.” When the stage lights suddenly died during a dramatic chase scene between Sherlock and Moriarty, the two were forced to help each other out: “I’m over here!” “Great, I’ll chase you!”
At the final bow, the cheers from the small audience that remained were ecstatic. The actors applauded us as we applauded them! As soon as the house lights rose, we hurriedly gathered our sodden blankets and sprinted through the deluge to the car park.
I’ve never forgotten that dramatic evening in the botanical gardens and to this day, no matter the forecast, I always take a waterproof to outdoor productions.
(Image by Kelly Sikkema)