As I walked down St. Martin’s Lane the doors of the English National Opera which were ajar and the sound of singers practising their scales leaked out into the street.
Their building in Covent Garden is called the London Coliseum but the atmosphere was not very confrontational. It was a hot, late August day and the lazy sweet sounds of the singers interspersed with their shared laughter and chat gave the impression of first day back after the holidays. The Opera season begins in less than a month. These sounded like early rehearsals.
Round the back of the opera house a different team were having a lunch break. Clad in dusty black t-shirts with the ENO logo over the heart, a bunch of industrious looking men were enjoying five minutes of rest beside their lorry. These guys were stagehands and lorry drivers taking time out from emptying the lorry of stage sets. You could still hear the singers developing their routine from here as the back of the opera house was open and the stage and front rows were visible to the street.
Just another small but wonderful London moment.
The lorry delivered sets and instruments
The delivery is made to the back door on Bedforbury.
The way onto the stage of the ENO directly from Bedforbury.
If you enjoyed this, you might also like: