![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I was walking through Victoria Park Monday afternoon, on my way to Stratford to see Brüno, when I spotted someone familiar on one of the benches facing the lake. It was the actor Ben Whishaw, scribbling into a notebook. It was a scene I know well because that's what I often do when I leave work and get to the park if the weather is nice and the geese (who have tripled in numbers in the past months) are about to launch into the water.
He was starring in a play at the National Theatre when I first started working there three years ago, and ever since then I've seen him off and on about town (mostly on the South Bank). He once asked me for directions when I was in one of the NT's photocopier rooms. And I have a LJ friend,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
knacker_prince, who has a good friend that dated Ben and still holds a candle for him. I could see that happening. And the more successful he becomes, I suppose, the stronger that candle will burn. (Did I hear he might get an Oscar nod for his role as Keats in Bright Star? sprezzatoura, I think you and I need to check it out.)
It's the first time I've seen him in my neighbourhood. I wonder if he was doing some kind of brainstorming for his upcoming role in The Tempest. Or writing short stories that won't be shared with anyone he knows, kept hidden at the back of his closet.
Today, Kevin and I are seeing flats in a council block south of Mile End Tube which are part of a housing scheme for artists. In exchange for paying very little rent (620 pounds for a three bedroom flat, for example) you agree to inject your time and work into the community with art projects. The idea, a very American one I think, is that artists move in and regenerate the area. It's also a way for the housing association that runs these flats to stop them being squatted. Some are in a terrible state and need a lot of work done, and some are ready to move in. It's a bit of a lottery.
The artist is, of course, Kevin. I've described myself as a "writer" in the application - maybe I can write plays for the local primary school?
The council flats are not too far from Mile End Park so I could still potentially walk to work using the Regent's Canal, though it might make more sense to start using a bike. The only clincher is that they want people to take the flats immediately, which would mean paying rent in two places for two months (I want to give my landlady/good friend plenty of notice).
He was starring in a play at the National Theatre when I first started working there three years ago, and ever since then I've seen him off and on about town (mostly on the South Bank). He once asked me for directions when I was in one of the NT's photocopier rooms. And I have a LJ friend,
knacker_prince, who has a good friend that dated Ben and still holds a candle for him. I could see that happening. And the more successful he becomes, I suppose, the stronger that candle will burn. (Did I hear he might get an Oscar nod for his role as Keats in Bright Star? sprezzatoura, I think you and I need to check it out.)It's the first time I've seen him in my neighbourhood. I wonder if he was doing some kind of brainstorming for his upcoming role in The Tempest. Or writing short stories that won't be shared with anyone he knows, kept hidden at the back of his closet.
Today, Kevin and I are seeing flats in a council block south of Mile End Tube which are part of a housing scheme for artists. In exchange for paying very little rent (620 pounds for a three bedroom flat, for example) you agree to inject your time and work into the community with art projects. The idea, a very American one I think, is that artists move in and regenerate the area. It's also a way for the housing association that runs these flats to stop them being squatted. Some are in a terrible state and need a lot of work done, and some are ready to move in. It's a bit of a lottery.
The artist is, of course, Kevin. I've described myself as a "writer" in the application - maybe I can write plays for the local primary school?
The council flats are not too far from Mile End Park so I could still potentially walk to work using the Regent's Canal, though it might make more sense to start using a bike. The only clincher is that they want people to take the flats immediately, which would mean paying rent in two places for two months (I want to give my landlady/good friend plenty of notice).
