Free All That Glitters by Catrin Collier Page A

of you who wish to be considered for an interview after I’ve spoken will have to fill in these forms.’
    ‘Sir.’ Jane dared to raise her hand.
    He glared at her, annoyed at being interrupted, but used to being ordered around by workhouse staff she didn’t flinch. Rising from her seat she spoke steadily and directly.
    ‘How soon do you want someone to start?’
    ‘Next week.’
    Next week! The words tolled in her mind like a funeral bell. With no money and no lodgings, she had to start now. Tonight!
    ‘The hours are long. Monday to Friday, four in the afternoon until eleven at night, sometimes later – the staff are only allowed to leave when their work is finished, and the theatre ready to open the next day. On a Saturday when there’s a matinee as well as two evening shows we work from one until eleven. If things go well the usherettes sometimes manage a break on a Saturday between the matinee and the five o’clock show, but only when all the preparation has been completed for the doors to reopen. There are five usherettes here, including the new appointment. Their duties include showing patrons to their seats, selling programmes and taking a tray out in the intervals. They also make up their own confectionery trays, and check the money from their sales. Any small discrepancies will be deducted from wages. A large one will lose the girl her job. All usherettes are responsible for keeping the confectionery areas clean, including the trays and the ice-cream storage machines. They assist the stagehands and callboy to pick up litter from the auditorium after, and between performances.
    Lips pursed in disapproval the girl in pink lifted her hand. ‘Surely usherettes aren’t expected to clean?’
    ‘We have cleaners, but their job is to dust and sweep out the theatre and scrub the washrooms. As I said, it’s the usherettes’ responsibility to keep the confectionery areas clean and pick up litter from the auditorium.’ Joe Evans frowned. Apart from the girl in pink he’d already marked as a madam to be avoided, he could barely tell the others apart. They were all fresh-faced, keen and eager to please, and there had to be at least forty of them sitting in front of him. Even if he rushed the interviews and gave them only ten minutes each, it would still take him more than six hours to produce a short list of five or six for the manager. He shuddered at the prospect, but bowed to the inevitable. He’d have to whittle the numbers down with the aid of the forms, and the sooner he started the sooner the whole business would be finished.
    ‘Remember what I said,’ if you don’t like what I’ve told you, there’s the door.’ He pointed to the back. The girl in pink tossed her head and left, her heels clattering in the silence. Another hand went up.
    ‘Do we get the same night off every week?’
    ‘Yes. Sunday when the theatre’s closed.’
    ‘No other?’
    ‘Not if you want to keep the job.’
    ‘And the wages?’ The speaker was older than the majority of applicants. A brassy blonde who looked as though she knew all there was to know about life.
    ‘Twelve and six a week to start, negotiable after the trial period ends.’
    ‘That’s slave labour rates.’
    ‘At the risk of repeating myself, there’s the door if you don’t like it. Plain black dresses …’ He looked along the row, pausing when he came to Jane and the only other girl dressed in black ‘...to be worn at all times. You’ll be supplied with two sets of aprons and hats, which you’ll be expected to wash, starch and iron. From the minute you go on duty until the minute you finish clearing up after the last performance you’ll be on your feet. If you’re nervous about walking home late at night, this isn’t the job for you. The manager gives preference to girls who live within easy distance of the theatre so they can get in, even if the trams and buses are on stop because of flooding or snow. Right, you have ten minutes to fill out