Letters, laughs and brief encounters….

A SMALL field on the outskirts of a picturesque town on the Welsh border, provided the backdrop of a memorable weekend for the Collective as Benedict, and his friends, took to the stage for two Letters Live events.

Letters from the famous and infamous, as well as between a World War Two signalman and his love back home, were read out by Benedict and a host of well-known faces – Louise Brealey, James Rhodes, Rob Brydon, Chris Evans, Patrick Kennedy, Ian McEwan and Michael Morpurgo, to name just a few.

Fans of Benedict were not disappointed. Over the two days, he read 11 letters, six as signalman Chris Barker in the incredible Chris & Bessie series, one by Richard Avedon, one by Kurt Vonnegut, one by Iggy Pop, one by Ted Hughes and a heartbreaking series by Robert Scott, dying on his Antarctic expedition.

(Pictures by Rebecca Dobson)

He embodied the character and mood of each, putting on American accents, lurching his body around as Iggy, choking back a tear as Scott, as he asked his soon-to-be widow to try to convince their son there was a God.

Letters Live is a concept all of its own and, I cannot recommend it enough – the next event is at Festival No6 in Portmerion and I will be making the trip.

And as for Hay Festival – it is a wonderful celebration of the written word. Letters Live was just one of around 550 events over the course of the festival, events ranging from writing groups and radio broadcasts to full concerts by James Rhodes and Bill Bailey, and Q&As with the likes of Judi Dench. Benedict popped up at several events, and it was wonderful to see him enjoy himself as we all did.

My own personal experience of the weekend was enriched hugely by meeting so many people who I’ve met through twitter and Sherlock forums, it was great to make contact and have such fun with them. To top it off, I met James, as well as Louise very briefly –  and the man himself. So, where to start? I am going to describe it in full, as I have no fan picture, no autograph or video. Writing it down is the only way I will manage to remember it in years to come!

I’ve been submitting reports on here since the site was born (thanks Gabi), and you’ll know I’m interested in Benedict the person, as much as I am interested in Benedict the actor. I like to hear of his interests, be it sporting, musical, or educational, and life experiences.

I’m also interested in drawing him. I take immense pleasure in spending hours focusing on his face (don’t we all!), in whatever character or form (seriously contemplating a Smaug in the near future).

So when me and my friend, Rebecca, got tickets to both the Letters Live events, I thought about the possibility of meeting him, what I’d say, what I’d do. I contemplated taking my art with me, and decided to. Just in case.

And thank God I did.

I had my small sketchbook with me, which contains two drawings, one of Benedict as James from Third Star, and one of Louise as Molly, as well as one work-in-progress I’m doing for someone on twitter (Chrissy, yay!) — I spent time on the train and in the queue working on it, as it seemed a nice way of killing time.

When the second Letters Live event finished we exited right from the Tata Tent and seemingly at the same time as the artists. I saw him but could not get close. I didn’t want to; it was a scrum and I could barely breathe. I got out onto the muddy area and tried to make my escape but came up against a wooden fence where, to my surprise I saw Louise. I showed her my picture of her and although she couldn’t sign she gave me a little hug, which was lovely.

By the time I got out it was chaos, with people trying to leave and get a glimpse of Benedict, and other people trying to get into other events. I was glad to get out of the throng and felt awful for him and Louise who must have been totally overwhelmed by it.

Four hours later then, when me, Rebecca and Chrissie were sitting around contemplating leaving and heading into Hay itself, Rebecca spotted him. He was walking through with Louise and James Byng (Cannongate publishing), with no entourage, no security and seemingly no-one approaching him. He crouched and waved at a little toddler running past (aww!) and we followed, at a distance. He and Louise and James went back down towards the artists’ entrance of the Tata Tent (which if you were there you’ll know is a long corridor). I just stood at the far end, sketchbook in hand, thinking “well that’s it, at least I saw him.”

And that’s when he started walking back, right at me. I was frozen to the spot, all kinds of thoughts going through my head. They were literally feet away from me when I caught the eye of James who smiled at me and I smiled back. I just thought, this is it, if I don’t ask now, I’ll never know. So I just blurted “Benedict, please would you look at my drawing”, and held it out.

He turned, saying “I’m sorry I can’t……wow.”

His face dropped, he looked right into my eyes with those icy blues, looked back at the book, looked again at me. “That’s fantastic, I’m so sorry I can’t stop.”

He carried on walking. All I could blab was: “thank you that’s OK, that’s OK.”

He turned again. “You’re very talented. I’ve got to go I’m so sorry.” He waved.

I died.

Apparently, after I turned and started shaking like a leaf (I’m shaking as I type this now, just the memory makes it happen!), he looked back again at me, then to Chrissie, giving a thumbs up.

To me, the ultimate seal of approval.

I am still dreaming of things I’d say to him, in a parallel universe where I’m confident, assured and calm, and he’ll waffle back long answers about acting and living life to the full.

But “wow” will do. It really will do.

ETA: Just to show you all (Gabi said I should!) here is the drawing I showed Benedict.

Taken from the film Third Star

Written by clareiow on 3 June 2014. 1 comment »
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