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Performers of Covent Garden in London
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Xiaohong Liu
It's 10:30 in the morning. Tourists stream in all directions. They talk, drink and laugh. Acrobats perform in the square, while a string quartet and singers play classical music.
This is Covent Garden, one of the top tourist destinations in London.
Open theatre in London
Until the 16th century, Covent Garden was a kitchen garden owned by Westminster Abbey. Later it became a marketplace for fresh flowers and vegetables. In 1974 when the market was moved to Vauxhall in southwest London, the area was targeted by the British Government for urban development. The original Flower Market is now London's Transport Museum. The main buildings have been renovated into various cafes, small shops and boutiques.
To attract tourists, the authorities allow street entertainers to perform here. Now the area gathers the largest number of freelance artists, as they prefer being called, in Britain.
There are no special limits to those street artists in terms of age or nationality. However, before they are allowed to perform at Covent Garden, they must get registered and book the time slot and location one week in advance. All these are free and usually a slot lasts for 40 minutes.
Theoretically, they may book as much time as they want. The office is only in charge of licence granting and timetable arrangement.
Performances at Convent Garden
About 50 artists at Covent Garden perform regularly. Performances usually are categorized into three fields: acrobatics, music performance and living statue.
Artists dress up in costume, paint their faces, stand on a box and hold a pose for hours, as if they were real statues. Whenever you throw a coin into their money boxes, they change gestures and even shake hands with you.
Most performers have received professional training. Some even have master's degrees.
Gornonwy, a 20-year-old acrobat from Sheffield, in north-central England, is an expert. He began acrobatic training at 11 and went to a circus school at 16. After graduation, he joined a circus and toured around Britain.
“The toughest part is to build the crowds. You talk, you sing, you dance, you just do whatever funny stuff to draw their attention and keep them with you, or they will go to other artists.” He said.
Levy, the first violin in a string quartet who has been performing nearly everyday at Covent Garden for about three years, told me: “I play here for the good money. It is the main source of my income. People don't come here to appreciate music but for entertainment. They talk, drink and eat. We have to play even harder to fight with the noise and add many extra elements like waltzes to entertain them.”
However, some performers are here for the audience. Fabranne, a tall French opera singer in her 30s, wore a dress that looks simple and elegant. Her passionate singing always draws a crowd.
She has a master's degree in Opera Drama and sings in the theatre regularly. Yet she still prefers Covent Garden because of the people. “Opera is for everybody,” she said. “In the theatre, you don't have any immediate interaction with people. They hear and they go. But here, people come to you and tell you they like you.”
Stephen probably is the youngest performer at Covent Garden. He is only 11 years old. His family immigrated to Britain from Romania not long ago. Finding it difficult to make friends, an electric organ became his loyal companion. But he can hardly play it at home because the neighbours complain. Covent Garden is the only place to practise.
Chinese musicians
Chinese musicians are quite a special group at Covent Garden.
“Old Huang” is actually not old. He is in his early 30s, thin and with hair down to his shoulders. As the first violin of his quartet, he is the organizer and usually addresses the crowds. When he speaks, his strong Mandarin accent reveals his Chinese origin.
He appeared very friendly at first when I approached him. He seemed to think I was homesick and eager to talk to another Chinese. “Don't worry, you will get used to it soon,” he consoled me.
But when he realized I was a reporter, his tone changed immediately. “I would talk to you for a few minutes. But no recorder, no note taking, alright?”
Old Huang came to London to follow a well-known violinist (he wouldn't reveal the name) and continued his study after graduating from China's prestigious Central Conservatory of Music in 1988. Since then, he has lived in London and played the violin at Covent Garden. He occasionally plays in theatres or joins an orchestra touring Britain.
“Is this the life you want?” I asked.
“Well, life is different here. In China, people pay you to perform and you are respected wherever you go. But here, you have to do whatever you can to make a living. Some people like to perform on stage. I don't. I like it here. I prefer living here because, compared with China, I really feel free.”
While conducting my interviews, other street artists frequently mentioned the “Guo Brothers”.
Their success is legendary at Covent Garden. I learned from Old Huang that they were famous in China even before they came to Britain in the early 1980s.
Terry, a middle-aged pop singer from London, told me that he has known the Guo Brothers for 16 years. There are four of them and they play Chinese musical instruments. They are signed under the label of Real World, a record company. They have been invited to countless music festivals in Europe, Africa and America and are famous for their Chinese folk music.
“They are very nice. They play all day, only take breaks every 15 minutes for a cigarette,” Terry said.
I met two of the four Guo Brothers. In fact, it was their music that attracted me to them. Two middle-aged men in old-fashioned Chinese tunic suits were performing beside a lamp-pole, with a suitcase full of CDs and two pieces of paper explaining their background and their musical instruments.
One of them was playing the Xiao, a long bamboo flute, while another playing the Sheng, an ancient Chinese wind musical instrument that has a history of more than 3,000 years.
There were no big crowds that day. In fact, I was the only listener. I put a 20-pence coin into their box. It impressed them. When I came up during their cigarette break, the elder brother was extremely kind to me.
“So, you are new here,” he said in a strong Beijing accent. “Give me your telephone number, and I will phone you for dinner.”
I thanked him and asked: “I heard that you were very successful when you were in China, right?”
“Well, we were with Wang Jieshi and Xie Lisi (one of the most popular duos in China in the 80s),” he said to me earnestly. “Do you like playing here?” I further asked him.
Silence!
“I don't mind playing here as long as I can earn money,” he later said in a plain voice. “Why did I come abroad? Because life is better here. Why are you here?” he inquired.
Then I made a fatal mistake: I told them I was studying journalism. “Journalism?” he asked, becoming alert at once. “Don't tell me you want to write my story!”
“No interviews, not even for five million pounds.”
I was baffled by their reaction. Later, I got the answer from a friend who works at the Chinese section of the BBC World Service.
“I tried to invite them to our programme a decade ago. But they all refused. They did make lots of money in the beginning. But they lost it all. Why? They gamble.”
“In China, they could visit friends, go out for dinner or tea, but here, life is boring, so they gambled and lost most of their money.”
“On the other hand, Covent Garden is certainly not the most decent place in the traditional Chinese view. They don't want their relatives and friends at home know about this, but to make a living, they have no other choice. This is their dilemma.”
And so the brothers symbolize the atmosphere of Covent Garden: not only is it full of performers, but the performers themselves all have tales to tell.
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