Other than when my neighbour’s singing in her garden I work in silence. I went to an opera recently my cousin, herself a classical singer, produced and staged in one of the Muswell Hill churches. Halfway through the show I found myself backstage with the singers waiting to go on. Being an audience member I wasn’t supposed to be there but it was where the only toilet was. The singers backstage have to be silent as there’s no amplification on stage. There isn’t really even a stage. Audience and performers on floor level. One piano played by two pianists and a singer. Any noise backstage would be heard in the audience. Had I given it any thought I’d have assumed the singers backstage would all be sat down quietly waiting their turn but they were silently dancing with each other.
Edgeworth Johnstone 