Friday 24 July 2015

Cromwell in my kitchen


Strange but true.
Mark Rylance and his wife Claire
paid us a visit to look at our windows.
He wore one of his trademark hats
but to amuse the baby - doffed it.
His wife said that was not something you'd see very often.

They were both smiley and charming and
 highly complimentary about the windows,
floor tiles, garden and baby.
Her actress mother was chuffed to meet him.
(They just happened to be here for lunch you understand.)
On this cold, wet July day,
it was just the tonic we needed.

Now I am pondering the peculiar nature of contacts 
between unknown individuals and the famous.
On the face of it, we all 'acted natural';
there was no gushing about his wonderful acting,
no autographs were sought,
no selfies were taken.
But would I be blogging about it if he'd been
just a man in the street who'd used us as referees
for a window making company?

Of course not.

You can listen to him on Desert Island Discs.
I missed this one.




16 comments:

  1. That's exactly what I said after his agent rang. I might have added Blimey.

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  2. Replies
    1. My dad used to say that.I never heard anyone else use it. But yes.

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  3. Did you wear your new hat in his honour?

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    Replies
    1. He might have thought I was taking the Mick.

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  4. Oh my goodness, Lucille.

    My most recent theatre visit was several Easter Sundays ago, when I treated myself to a very good orchestra/stalls seat to see Jerusalem on Broadway. Mr Rylance's performance, and actually the entire production have set a very high standard. I think that I even blogged about it. I have heard the Desert Island Discs radio show via this very laptop. I could say more but will leave the rest for the next time we do actually get to see each other.

    Meanwhile, I'll remain a tender shade of green.

    xo

    p.s. I love the word punnet.

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  5. Cor and blimey. Nice to hear he was charming in Real Life.

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  6. When I picked up Wolf Hall to read in June, I could see only his face and hear only his voice in the character of Thomas Cromwell. He rendered the character in the book so perfectly that, to me, he almost seems more Cromwell than Cromwell.

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  7. I don't know who Mark Rylance is, though the name is vaguely familiar. Still, I can see that being visited by a random celebrity would be strange.

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  8. I shall now look him up...

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  9. I just put my feet up, stretched out on the sofa and listened to that - thanks Lucille!

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  10. What a hoot! I don't think I could have got away without saying something silly. Lucky you!

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  11. But, but how did he know about your windows?

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    1. He met a friend of his in a park who told him about our man. Our man gave him our number (he should perhaps have warned/ asked us first) and then his PA made the contact. They live fairly near us as it turns out.

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    2. Gosh, you obviously handled the situation with great aplomb; well done, I would have not done so.

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  12. Of course , you carried it off with aplomb !

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