Sing-a-long-a-Jane
Eighteen years ago this month , Jane Bom-Bane opened her performance-café at 24 George Street in Kemptown . Peter Chrisp visited for a talk with Jane
Jane Bom-Bane plays the harmonium while wearing beautiful mechanical hats , which illustrate her songs , such as ‘ I ’ ve Got A Goldfish Bowl On My Head ’. She had the idea to open a café while running musical evenings at the Sanctuary in Hove with her then partner , the multi-instrumentalist , Nick Pynn . After she bought 24 George Street in March 2006 , they spent six months restoring the building and creating the café .
“ It was a wing and a prayer ,” says Jane . “ A lot we did ourselves . People who helped us were friends and gave us really good prices . For a lot of years after , we were giving people free sausage and mash .” Here she ’ s talking about stoemp and sausage , one of the café ’ s great Belgian dishes created by Andre Schmidt , the first chef . It ’ s still on the menu today .
Jane and Nick built seven mechanical tables inspired by table-related wordplay . These are the mirrored Tablerone , the Water Table ( a model of the Palace Pier with working rides standing in a rippling sea ) and two Aesop ’ s Tables , showing 1920s animal fable cartoons . The Uns-Table , the Turntable and the 27 Chimes Table all have delightful surprises which I leave to you to discover .
“ Until the day before we opened , I still hadn ’ t worked out a way of putting water in the Water Table . I knew it had to be an oil because water would evaporate . I wanted a transparent oil , but the things I ordered on the net were yellow . And I was in Boots just around the corner and do you know what it was that I spotted ? Baby oil ! And that baby oil ’ s been in there for 18 years !”
The front wall of Bom-Bane ’ s has a bust of Jane with a revolving tray on her head with its own story to tell . Made in 2007 by her brotherin-law , Johnny Justin , it was stolen in 2012 , later found in a student garden , minus its hat , and restored in 2017 .
Go down the spiral stairway and you reach the basement , the main performance space , its walls covered with paintings and instruments . Although there ’ s only room for 25 people , it ’ s a room performers love . Stewart Lee , Bridget Christie , Jerry Dammers and Rich Hall are among the many who have played here .
Bom-Bane ’ s has a tradition of singing staff , beginning in 2008 with the waitresses Rosi Lalor and Candy Hilton , who Jane discovered were wonderful harmony singers . “ I thought I ’ ve got to harness this , and so I wrote a musical . It was all about the café and how we cooked things , and how I got parsley and coriander mixed up .”
This was the start of the Bom-Bane ’ s Family Players , who would perform a folk musical written by Jane every May fringe and at Christmas . These often used the whole building , with an audience of just five following a promenade performance from the
attic to the basement .
Puppeteer Daisy Jordan , fresh from art college , joined Bom-Bane ’ s as a dishwasher in 2010 , and soon found herself singing and performing puppetry as a member of the family players . Today she says , “ I wonder if I would be a performer / puppeteer if it weren ’ t for Bom-Bane ’ s .”
Isobel Smith , another puppeteer , had only made one puppet when Jane invited her to put on her first show here . Rosi Lalor , encouraged by Jane to write and perform her songs , has gone on to make two solo albums .
To celebrate the centenary of the crossword in 2013 , Jane turned the building into a big crossword puzzle , 5 Down and 20 Across . Her sister , the crossword setter Pegleg , wrote puzzles which were placed on the building ’ s 20 doors , which had all been turned into black and white paintings by different artists .
I painted one of the doors with the story of the explorer Sir John Franklin ’ s mysterious disappearance in the Arctic in 1845 . By a curious coincidence ( or Bom-Bane magic ?), Sir John ’ s ship was discovered a year after I did the painting . This led to me hosting a series of Franklin Disaster Mystery evenings , with Arctic food , Inuit testimony , whale song and Jane as Sir John ’ s widow singing Franklin ballads .
The current chef is the singer-songwriter , Eliza Skelton . Unlike the waitresses who became singers , she was a singer to begin with . She performs here in the musicals , which she now co-writes , and as a member of the Silver Swans , a madrigal group with Jane and Emma Kilbey . She learned to be a great chef by working in Bom-Bane ’ s .
In 2008 , Eliza and David Bramwell first staged Sing-a-long-a-Wickerman here . Audience members , invited to dress in character , were given a ‘ Pagan Hymn Book ’, which allowed them to sing along with the songs from the film . Eliza and David take this to festivals and theatres around the country , and still host Folk Horror film screenings in Bom-Bane ’ s .
Today , Jane spends midweek with her mum in Coventry , and so the café is only open at weekends . It ’ s staffed by Jane , Eliza and recent recruit Kate Holden . Jane says , “ Kate is helping me in the kitchen . She says she ’ s not musical , but I ’ m teaching her to play the guitar , and I think she can sing . Most people can sing .” That very evening Kate made her stage debut , accompanying Jane in a song .
We ended by talking about plans for the future . On the anniversary , 1 September , there ’ s a coming-of-age celebration , with 18 songs sung by Jane and her family of players . “ There was a couple in last week who I got talking to . Somehow we got talking about when we first opened here and he said , “ Was there anything that you planned to do that you didn ’ t do ?” And I said “ Yes , I wanted to make a tap with water music so that when you turned the tap on music came out with your water , but I never got around to it .” And he said , “ I ’ ll do that for you !””
I tell Jane that I think the cultural impact of this little building has been massive . “ When you look at it like that , yes , it ’ s been a springboard for a lot of people that normally wouldn ’ t do it . It ’ s because it ’ s so little and friendly , and that ’ s what Brighton ’ s like , isn ’ t it ? It catches you if you fall .”
l Bom-Bane ’ s , 24 George St , Kemptown , BN2 1RH
For bookings email janebombane @ yahoo . co . uk
https :// bom-banes . com https :// janebom-bane . bandcamp . com https :// www . elizaskelton . com https :// www . daisyjordan . co . uk https :// rosilalor . bandcamp . com