The week began with running a workshop that was regularly interrupted by the din of Trump’s helicoptercade (is that a word?). Three giant choppers streaking across the sky without regard. I suppose it’s easy to misinterpret the protesters as supporters from that high up, far away from the signs. A reminder to the more sane of us to get up close and personal with our critics (and friends) whenever we can.
A lot of self-directed work besides: re-reading about management research methodology, ethics, and planning to recruit some critical friends for my final MBA project, writing up some progress reports for live work.
Went to see Jonny Woo’s all-star Brexit cabaret which was pretty clever and featured music written by the lovely Richard Thomas. Turns out that making consistently laugh-out-loud comedy out of the Brexit situation is quite a challenge, though – the best response an artist can hope for is bittersweet puzzlement, I think, given the complex set of emotions this particular topic arouses. A short-lived belly-laugh, stifled by the suffocating horror of the reality of the political situation unfolding here in the UK.
This made me reflect on a song I adapted for the Barberfellas in April – a barbershop reworking of Erasure’s Love To Hate You featuring Theresa May dancing, Juncker, face masks – the whole bit. The audience response was earnest but a bit flat. We decided we’re going to shelve the song. A shame, given the work we put into it, but it was hard to get the complexity of Brexit across in just a few minutes through the lyrics I put together. Richard Thomas did, of course, a far better job than I in Woo’s cabaret, but nonetheless: suffered a similar audience fate I think.
Of course, art is not just for cheap laughs, though – and it’s testament to its quality that Woo & Thomas’ work has stayed with me all week and reignited the flame of ‘What am I doing to deepen the nuance of conversation on Brexit and improve political discourse in the UK?’. The answers to date are, pitifully, ‘I wrote this song!’ and ‘I signed that revoke petition’. This isn’t enough.
Perhaps we just need to continue sing the song, accept that nearly all art is political, and get the conversation started.
Also had the privilege to see Armistead Maupin at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern answering Q&A to coincide with the new Netflix series of Tales of the City. The stories in Tales are, of course, ridiculous, but the life Maupin breathes into his characters and the worlds he evokes are incredibly rich – I close my eyes and I’m in 70s or 80s (or beyond) San Francisco.
On the roof garden: there is precisely one strawberry, the raspberries and blackberries are starting to gain some colour, the (late) tomatoes are growing, and rocket is starting to emerge. Bees have discovered the lavender and there are more birds starting to hang about.
Just dribbled tea on my t-shirt, which must mean it’s time for another.