Sunday 25th January 2015

Poor Little Rich Gays with their mothers is the present theme: Robert Nevil is tending to his after her hospital spell, I, Adrian Edge, accompany mine in building work and doing chicken with 24 bay leaves (a Church Times recipe). Yesterday Anthony Mottram was in his mother’s luxury sheltered complex as was I, lunching – sheltered from without but within stormy as elderly ladies fight first of all to be 100 years old and then to reign supreme on the Committee.

But at last I must gaze upon Harry Rollo’s great perf. It was nearly two weeks ago. And the after-dinner attended by leading figures… I had to meditate rather than rush into print. As you know the aim was to perform a well-known work with a Winter theme for the last time. And this aim was achieved. Just two performers apparently being quite traditional in performing an existing work. Miss Lamore Cellina, for once of the audience, was dressed as Winter to match. The thing was that Harry Rollo took the performance to the edge of disintegration, where it has never been before. The audience were in crisis but electrified. Would ‘Art’ survive? Somehow it did. A ghostly beauty. Despite years of performing, and being a performance artist, Harry never performs. He is torn apart by each performance, which is not a performance but teetering on the brink. At any moment disintegration could be final. All this despite pages of coverage and world love pouring in. But the artist can know no comfort.

The after-dinner, after the perf – I shall leave to the imagination. How can I hope to convey outstanding figures of our time in a concentrated bloc, at one table, having small plates?

With Reggie Cresswell, I’ve booked for Harry Rollo’s next major perf. which is to be in Vienna. I can’t remember whether I’ve also mentioned that this summer I’m to take Bayreuth. Prince Dmitri Hersov has at last come good in the ballot. Six operas have been offered and accepted and a Schloss-Hotel with hunting trophies booked.

So it’s to be a German summer. A very different decor, cuisine and hotel landscape from that I am accustomed to.