Something from nothing

I was sorting out some laundry in the costume store at Glyndebourne.

I looked up and saw some of the Hamlet dresses hanging from their hangers, quietly minding their own business.

I stopped for a moment, because the previous day, I had seen these very same costumes on stage. Amazing, talented artistes were wearing them. They were looking spectacular and impressive under moody stage lighting. Arranged within the stage blocking, they had created a beautiful 'real-life painting'.

And now here they were - empty and needing a steam, their wrinkles lit up under bare strip lights.

It made me think about potential. About how something that seems ordinary can be transformed into something extraordinary, with a little bit of magic.

Pearl