Wish I'd Said That

Wish I'd Said That
Written and performed by Henri Szeps. The Street Theatre (ACT). 10–21 April, 2012

It was a great honour to meet, tonight, the man who wrote and delivered Wish I'd Said That, Henri Szeps.  I can't say that the man acted well; this is the first performance I've ever seen that I can't convince myself was acted at all.  It simply delivers the refreshing, moving truth.  In the sense that everything we do is an act, this was an act; but it was free of all artifice.

If that were not enough, in it Szeps delivers the most compelling, moving rendition you're likely ever to hear of a song that, till now, some have felt that nobody has succeeded in singing well.  Many great vocal talents have tripped over this song; yet Szeps, with his comparatively untrained voice, delivered it with blinding sweetness.

 

Szeps transformed with a swish of costuming as his narrator recounted other characters.  The work is surely a mix of fiction and non-fiction.  But emotionally it is utterly convincing, to the point at which I feel sure that it must be based on real-life events.  This work is not a performance; it is true, and it is a great gift of the heart.  Thank you, Henri Szeps.

 

John P. Harvey

 

Image: Henri Szeps, in Wish I'd Said That. Photographer: Natalie Boog.

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