Baited Hooks - Week Two

Last week we thought we'd seen it all. We had audiences of quiet children, we had audiences of noisy children and, thanks to a mix-up in school administration, we had an audience of absent children. This week we had a child obsessed with drunkeness, teachers talking throughout and another who was constantly on his mobile phone.

The audience is divided in half and both halves receive slightly different versions of the show. It's my job to take the children designated as 'Citizens', from the Dolphin pub and around the church in search of somewhere to set up a stall to sell my wares. Ensuring that the timing works out and that the two groups do not bump into each other is a bit of a juggling act.

We work our way down to an undergound chapel where I regale the children with tall tales of silks, spices and mermaid's hair until interrupted by Lady Helena Knyvett. The children and I attempt to sell her silks and she suggests we leave the chapel, thus leaving it vacant for the other group, the 'Apprentices'. They are still in the Dolphin and my group cannot visit there again until they leave. In one show this week I didn't notice that Will had taken the other group downstairs and waited and waited and waited for them to pass, stalling the 'Citizens' for as long as I could before admitting defeat and forging out for the Dolphin. By the time we reach the Dolphin we are into the final scene, the showdown between the various characters and their dilemmas, but not before I have eaten my all-important breakfast. It's my favourite practical prop.

The strangest discourse this week was a series of complete non sequiturs so here's the most insightful discourse instead:
Me: "Her ladyship wants to bring in foreign troops to control the king."
Child: "Like Iraq."