Wish I'd Said That
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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