Ingrid ......fresh air in Chichester....and it doesn't come much fresher by the sea...

Looking through heaps of memorabilia, filtering out much of no consequence, and being very brave, nay, ruthless in discarding a load of dross which has been packed away and forgotten over the years since I retired. O.K. so I'm still rushing about like a dotty, breathing with anyone who's interested - but you know what I mean.....? During my time as Property Manager (stage props., not buildings) for Chichester Festival Theatre Company, mid nineteen seventies, one of the most charming and human of the International artistes I was privileged to have as a colleague, was the legendary Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman. So elegant, she was leading lady in a production of "The Waters of the Moon", what I would describe as a fairly forgettable play, and the reason for having a star studded British cast to support Miss Bergman - Dame Wendy Hiller, Sir John Clements, Dandy Nichols. At the first production meeting with producer, designer, entire cast and production team, all very English, terribly polite and proper of course, the costume designs (by a young and inexperienced lady who had "researched" the period), were laid out on a table, and I will never forget Miss Bergmans' expression when she saw those intended for her - she was aghast, but trying not to show it....Her character in the play was a 1930's film star - and she pointed out, as kindly as possible, that she was a film star at that time - and would never have worn anything so unfashionable - and one could sense her thinking "and uugly"....There was an embarassing silence, everyone seemed to stop breathing until the Artistic Director tactfully changed the subject to the set and prop. designs. Pheeew - great sighs of relief all round... The costumes were eventually designed by Finlay James - and they were gooorgeous - could hardly get Miss B. out of them !! As rehearsals progressed I was obliged to present properties to the respective actors, a process by which one builds up friendships within the company. Miss Bergman had never worked on a thrust stage before and found it quite daunting; to relieve the pressure of intense rehearsals, she invited me to join her - she'd hired a Mini (tiny car which she could just squeeze in to..) to enjoy "a breath of fresh air" at lunch times, and suggested that we explore various picturesque little villages on the shores of Chichester Harbour, it being my home territory. We had such fun, and as colleagues, it didn't really dawn on me at the time just how special those happy hours were. The show was so succeccful that it transferred to The Haymarket Theatre in London. Many people asked if they could be introduced to Ingrid - we were well past formal titles by that time, and she always said it was O.K. if they were friends of mine - she had had awful experiences with over enthusiastic "stalker" fans . Kiri was overawed by meeting her - and a year later Ingrid was overjoyed that she had met Kiri when she sang The Countess, in "Figaro" at The Royal Opera, London - wonderful when gifted artists meet, so modest with each other.... Incidently, Ingrid would only work in the U.K if her favourite dresser, a motherly old cockney lady called Looey was available to protect her from over zealous fans - such terrors..... "glamour" as Anna L says......k..p b.......g...