Having been given a "Menu of six story/songs performed for an audience of one" to mull over, I had no idea what to expect, which is quite a vulnerable feeling when you have an inherent fear of audience participation.

All of the titles were intriguing but I chose The Mayor Of Strasbourg’s Passions – "Sit in a French café bar while an enigmatic chanteur describes the secret lives of the unlikely clientele".

However, as the door to the "café-bar" was opened, my self-consciousness dissipated, as I was enchanted by the grand piano playing whilst welcomed to a table by my waiter/confidant (Jake Oldershaw).

By use of photographs projected on to a screen, this familiar stranger began divulging the inner lives and feelings of others in the café. I became entranced by this snapshot of a foreign land/life which I was temporarily party to.

There was stalwart but lonely butcher Henri, and café owner Nadia, nursing a drink and cigarette to soften her loveless marriage and broken dreams.

Finally, I encountered the Mayor of Strasbourg who had worked solidly for her position but was also cursed with loneliness and longing.

My companion then unexpectedly snapped from fervid speech into impassioned song and sang beautifully in French and English including: “The Mayor of Strasbourg is not what she seems, the Mayor of Strasbourg has passions and dreams.”

Performer Jake Oldershaw made his ten-minute act a memorable and overwhelming sensory experience. Rather than being intimidated, I left feeling special and honoured.