They doth desire we be better strangers
ANY City workers terrified of public embarrassment, look away now.
As part of the ongoing cultural celebrations to tie in with the London 2012 Games, incognito Shakespearean actors have been tasked with entertaining the visiting masses with impromptu street performances during the upcoming Paralympics.
Hidden at tourist hotspots, performers will “pop-up” on unassuming crowds and launch into a variety of “personalised one-to-one performances and flash mob moments” using the bard’s most famous words.
Created by actor Mark Rylance, who calls the initiative a “random act of senseless beauty and an artistic ambush”, London Mayor Boris Johnson called the performances “a delightful way to break down those self-imposed barriers” that keep Londoners apart.
So next time you sit down on a bench near St Paul’s for your lunchtime sandwich take a very good look at who’s next to you – any minute you could find yourself re-enacting Romeo and Juliet’s Balcony scene.