Japanese party costumes on British performers got them laughing

I’M not sure if it was a coincidence or a case of Big Brother is watching you, but recently I opened an email from a friend in which he made passing reference to his trip to Japan with Bath’s jet-setting Natural Theatre Company some years back.

In fact, he had woken from a nightmare in which he was packing for the gig and couldn’t find certain essential elements of his costumes.

The airport bus was waiting and panic ensued! Despite his not mentioning that country in the subject of his email, even as I was reading it, I received a lengthy newsletter from Japan National Tourism. This was an algorithm too far, methinks.

I am fully expecting a tsunami of messages from the purveyors of sleep aids, the makers of herbal pillows, a smattering of clairvoyants and numerous two-for-one offers on hippy dreamcatchers.

Mind you, my aforementioned colleague had reason to have bad dreams on the subject. Last time he went to Japan for the theatre company, the trunks containing not only his costumes but also those of his team, went missing in between Heathrow and Singapore.

Back at Widcombe HQ we had to prepare a duplicate set and send it off by express courier. Luckily his immaculately detailed packing list was still lurking in the costume department’s bin. Unfortunately, during the hiatus, our Japanese agent insisted the team carried out their contracted performances, which by co-incidence were part of the opening festivities at Tokyo’s new airport terminal.

To their everlasting credit, they managed this by hiring Shakespearean costumes from a fancy-dress emporium and improvising subBlackadder sketches and spurious Olde English folk ditties. Nothing if not imaginative in a crisis, the Naturals!

Luckily, the folks in the departure lounge found them funny, mainly I suspect because Japanese party costumes are considerably smaller than the British equivalent, rather than any cultural content.

Can you guess where the missing costumes finally turned up many months later? Bristol Airport!

The Naturals were very popular in Japan. I went there seven times, including two visits to the Street Theatre World Cup finals in Shizuoka.

This was (and still is) a prestigious event with a massive cash prize for the winner. I can’t remember how many thousands of dollars it was, but one year the impossibly handsome, brash, blonde, young and very annoying American macho surfer dude who won with a dazzling display of juggling, declared he was going to buy himself a Harley Davidson. As I said, the prize was in cash, and somehow, he managed to leave it in the safe in his hotel room, only realising halfway to the airport on the homeward journey.

Much weeping ensued, followed by a mad taxi dash. The money was still there and he caught his plane with minutes to spare!

The secret amusement we got out of the situation almost made up for not winning the prize, though I think I would have quite enjoyed my one fifth share of a Harley!