The time came for part deux of the Stella filming. We received the time and place of where we were to meet, no other details other than it may involve less people this time! Slightly concerned, some might say naive but ultimately intrigued we made our way to the pay phones in the underpass at Old Street. There we met a lady with a clipboard, were introduced to 2 other participants and asked to remember their names as "it's just you four for the next couple of hours"!
Our first task was to have a look at the newspaper resting on the pay-phone while we waited. Each of us were sure there were hidden clues so we took snap shots incase we needed to refer back. Then just as we were getting comfortable and having a laugh with our new friends the phone rang, we looked to the woman with the clipboard but she had disappeared. Kate promptly picked up the phone and heard a deep, stern voice guide her to the change compartment to find a folded note, on which were our next instructions.
It was all very serious so obviously the four of us (mature adults) could not help giggling like school kids! As we were walking out of the subway, chatting, 2 of the 4 were carted off by a stranger and another person was upon us, the remaining 2, hands firmly on our shoulders, pushing us forward and simply demanding we keep walking and not look back.. a whirlwind of drama proceeded in the following hours, like we were lost in a movie. We were in and out of warehouses filled with stolen cars and violence, taxis with romantic encounters, quaint parisian members bars where we were served beer and asked to write farewell love notes on behalf of blind men, pitch black houses to steel "the key", setting off burglar alarms & being chased. The whole experience from start to finish was cleverly choreographed, timed, organised and executed. Not once did the actors slip up or make a mistake.
We kept waiting for a camera crew to show themselves or one of us to bump into a boom mic but nothing, we were very much alone and in the hands of the actors. The evening ended as we walked from a barber shop on a cobbled street just near Liverpool St Station, the couple who was with us walked off with balloons, holding hands and the original 4 were left, slightly confused but cleverly standing in line with another pay phone.. it rang, once again we picked it up and the phone went dead, we looked in the change compartment to find one last note.
