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ITV
Sunday 22 August
11:05PM to 12:05AM
Street
Music. For centuries, London, like many of the world’s
greatest cities, has attracted thousands of musicians to perform
in its streets, squares and tunnels and it is these arenas
that provide the backdrop to this unique SOUTH BANK SHOW.
Director
Archie Powell and associate producer Roz Edwards spent weeks
combing the South Bank, Covent Garden Piazza and the underground,
listening and talking to musicians from all walks of life.
This documentary film focuses on the stories of four very
different buskers who, for various reasons, use the street
as their stage. But what compels a musician to busk? Is it
through desire or necessity? Are they looking to be discovered
or simply trying to survive? Are they on the way up or spiralling
down?
Derek’s
story is one of plain survival against the odds. He plays
reggae on the South Bank under the gaze of the London Eye.
His life has been an itinerant one; a disrupted childhood,
a period in care and much unemployment. He is determined not
to go back on welfare and to make an honest living from music.
His struggle is a daily one - he needs to make enough money
to buy food, a train ticket and pay his rent whilst fighting
a continual battle with the local authorities who are trying
to ban him from performing on the South Bank.
Jordene
is a soprano of immense power and range. Each day, she travels
to Covent Garden Piazza, in the shadow of the Royal Opera
House, and sings arias to passing tourists and office workers.
As a single parent raising two young daughters, the money
she makes from busking is vital to her family's welfare. Her
dream is to be a professional opera singer but her reality
could not be more different.
Hadar
Manor is set to be a star. Four years ago she was in the Israeli
army. Now she is busking in the underground. But this is no
hard luck story. On the contrary, Hadar sees busking as a
way of practising her songs and being paid for it. The tube
is the perfect showcase for her original material and it is
working: Hadar is already being wooed by several record companies.
Peter’s story is truly inspirational. A top accountant
for 14 years, he had a company car, a pension and excellent
prospects. Then one day, 15 years ago, he decided he had had
enough of the rat race; he left the office and never went
back. The very next day, he was living his dream of busking
in the underground. Adored by the public and the underground
staff alike, he still offers fellow buskers advice on how
to manage their finances.
These
musicians are not stars. They don’t have managers. They
are not on salaries. Yet, for whatever reasons, they work
in the hardest of all stages: the street.
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