My visit to Camden Market had a rather peculiar start. I and a few other travelers had sat down on some benches while we waited for another of our group to finish using the restroom. Suddenly a voice started booming, and we realized that we had sat down right in front of a performance. It was not just any performance though, but one that included audience participation.
We were face to face with a mad scientist, his assistant, and his exasperated daughter. They first invited up a mother and father to play a game of truth or false, where they were given statements, and had to determine whether it was a fact or a lie. After that, two people from our group were brought up, and had to play a word game, saying as many different words relating to a category, without any repeats. Then came the final game, and while I had managed to avoid being brought forward for the first two, my time had finally come. I was paired up with another student and was given a deck of cards with words written on them and tried to get them to guess as many as possible by saying related words. After this we were given tea for our participation, and it was revealed that this had actually been an advertisement, a rather good one at that, for a longer live performance, which unfortunately we were unable to get tickets to, despite our interest.
After this unexpected distraction, I finally entered Camden Market proper, and it was a lot. It was quite crowded when we visited, and the air was filled with the aromas of all different types of food. There were so many shops that caught my eye and interested me, that I didn’t know where to go first, and so I chose one to start at, and made my way down the street, going from store to store. There were places selling all sorts of over-the-top goth adjacent clothing, a wild west themed store, an anime and music shop where I bought some band pins, all varieties of jewelry stores, and a rave shop that was too loud for me to stay in for too long. I spent hours browsing through all of stalls and shops, and there was still a lot I was unable to see. At one point I got lost in a large sprawling underground section, rows of clothing acting as a maze, that took me too long to get out of.
All of this left me feeling overwhelmed, and so I took a few minutes to just relax against a wall and observe the world around me. The sounds of the people blended together as a watched them walk by me, people from all different backgrounds shopping, eating, or just walking around. It was nice to take a break from the lively market before I stepped back in, and did one more look around. After that I felt as though I had experienced enough of the market that day and made my way towards the exit.
As I left, I heard the sounds of the same actors still performing, bringing up a new group of people to the stage. As their voices faded out of earshot, I felt satisfied with my trip to Camden Market, but was ready for some relaxation time, and a nap which I thoroughly enjoyed.
-Jack Duncan
Theatre in London U of A 