BWW Blog: Siobhan O'Loughlin - Broken Bone Bathtub: London

It's no question that English people and American people have different sensibilities. Some might say that the English are more polite than Americans (who are not known to be especially mannerly) but then again, the English can be really painfully blunt. The United States, regardless, is a vast country with lots of different types of people in it. And so, for example, in Minnesota, there is this float-around-phrase called "Minnesota Nice" and it's paralleled with what I'd like to call the "English Embarrassed."

And by that I mean: Oh my goodness, how DOES one get an English person to lend me their bathroom? There I was, in London, one of the epicenters of the world, having a lot of difficulty getting any of my friends to let me come over and use their tub. Some of the arguments were the typical ones, like, our bathroom is quite small, but most genuinely, I think people were humiliated about their bathroom's very existence and didn't want people to come over and see how horribly they were living.

Eventually, another dear friend from Dartington, Rowena (who I had been staying with!), allowed me to come to her home and perform in the tub. We did two shows on a Saturday night in the quiet neighborhood of Dulwich.

The first performance was for an audience of three: Rowena, and two of our friends from school, Chris and Liam. I learned things about Liam, one of my favorite people in the world, that I had never known before-and obvious things, like how his injury had changed his body. Sitting in a bathroom, naked in a tub, with three people around you who you know and trust, draws strange lines between performance and...experience? Moment? Time spent together? Your "long distance friends," over time, will always have a bit of mystery, living their lives in an exciting place so different from your own, moving forward in the world, without you.

To me, this is a beautiful, exciting feeling, and also a sad one.

The second performance featured a larger group of 6, including one other Dartington alum (shoutout to arts entrepreneur Amie Taylor!), as well as two friends I had made while performing at Greenbelt Festival the week before (shoutout to my Festi Bestie, Martin John Chittell!). One of these friends was actually American: the dapper young musician Tom Butler. Check him out.

And now I'm actually going to out Tom for his shyness, which I wondered was perhaps influence of living in England for however long he has been, or if maybe this is just his nature and he happens to fit in really well with folks in the UK. When I asked Tom to wash my back, he said, "Okay." And sat still.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

"Uh...yeah." He said.

"To do this now? Is it okay?"

"Yeah."

After moments of being frozen solid, Tom came forward with the washcloth and the soap.

"Where do I look?" he whispered, which made everyone laugh.

I suppose this is a good question; no one has actually asked me so far.

"Um. Wherever you want?" I replied.

"And...what if I drop the soap?" He asked.

"Well...we'll be okay?"

This performance has consistently felt like research-the study of a culture, the study of a community. I felt very lucky to able to perform, even these very small shows, when I was out in London, and to share these experiences and stories from people in London, who really impacted me, moved me, and made me laugh. Is Tom more English than American after all? Maybe not, because Chris-the Englishman-wasn't uncomfortable in the least (or at least-not that he'd shown.)

From where I am now, I can reflect on the energy this performance has summoned from its audiences-from New York to Tokyo to LA to London, sure. I can pinpoint certain behaviorisms and experiences one could learn or expect based on a certain culture. But moreover, we are all vulnerable, we are all shy, we are all self conscious, and wanting to be liked, wanting to be loved, wanting to tell our stories but uncertain of when they want to be heard. London, with its history, its beautiful architecture, gloomy weather, expansive transport system, its diversity and spirit-London is no different.

Not even when we're all sitting in a bathroom together.

Okay, maybe a little different.

English people are often embarrassed.