Free Body on the Stage by Bev Robitai Page B

of
copies of the letter and hand them round the strip clubs with
discount vouchers for tickets,” said Tony. “Might as well get the
professionals on our side.”
    “You just want an excuse to
visit all the strip clubs!” Gazza accused him. “Your missus won’t
take too kindly to that!”
    “Curses! I’m busted!” said Tony,
laughing. “Better get the single guys to do it then.”
    “Oh no,” said both Dennis and
Fenton.
    “It’s a daft idea,” said
Jessica. “If you want to run it past our Head of Promotions you
can, but I doubt Nick will give the go-ahead.”
    “Where is our little ray of
publicity-seeking sunshine today? Isn’t he gracing us with his
presence?”
    “No, he’s got some kind of work
event he has to go to. He said he’d get here as soon as it
finished. I expect you can carry on till he gets here, can’t you?”
Jessica patted him on the shoulder like a wayward child, grinning
at his muttered retort. Ignoring him, she turned to Tony. “What’s
on the schedule today, mate?”
    Tony consulted his battered red
clipboard. “Today, Jessica, we’ll be finding the furniture we need
to go on stage, and checking out the ceiling round the chandelier
to see if it needs strengthening before anyone is lowered through
the hole.”
    “Someone’s coming down through
the ceiling? In the middle of the auditorium? That’s a bit risky.
Whose idea was that?”
    “Adam thought of it the last
time he was here. Looked up and saw there was a circular trapdoor
above the chandelier and said it would make a great entrance. He’s
really keen to use it for the show.”
    “I guess you’d better check it
out then. But for God’s sake be careful up there and mind where you
step. We don’t want anyone crashing through the ceiling, it’s
irreplaceable moulded tin and over a century old you know.” She
looked surprised as the others burst out laughing. “What?”
    “Nothing, Jessica, just admiring
your dedication to keeping our lovely old theatre safe, that’s all.
Actors and stage crew are a renewable resource – there are always
more of them coming along!”
    She shook her head impatiently.
“You guys can take care of yourselves – it’s the theatre that needs
looking after. Who are you taking up there, anyway?”
    Tony looked around to see who he
had to choose from. Dennis tried to edge out of his line of sight,
not wanting to provoke any unfavourable comments about size. “I
reckon Fenton’s the safest bet, the skinny bastard. That all right
with you, Fenton?”
    The slender, pale young man
shrugged in agreement. “Sure. Will we need the big ladder or are we
just working from above?”
    “Just up above for today. Right,
you other guys go under the stage and drag out whatever you see
that might fit this list.” Tony handed Gazza a page from his
clipboard. “See you for a coffee in an hour or so. We’ll all need
one by then to wash the dust out.”
    Dennis had resigned himself to
squeezing into the cramped spaces under the stage again, but this
time Gazza accessed the storage area through the stage itself,
prying up a trapdoor that Dennis hadn’t even noticed before as it
fitted flush to the surface with the joins covered in black-painted
masking tape.
    “Might as well go in the easy
way,” said Gazza. “And we can bring the bits and pieces straight up
the stairs instead of hauling them around.”
    “Do you use the trapdoor for
shows much?” asked Dennis. “Is it still traditional for genies to
pop up during a pantomime these days?”
    “Yeah, we do open it up now and
again. I’ll bet Adam will have plans to bring someone through it
for this show just to make a nice dramatic entrance. If he’s using
the ceiling you can bet he’ll do something with the trap. Probably
fly someone down from the box as well, knowing him. He’s good at
using all the available spaces for best effect.”
    Dennis hadn’t heard Gazza string
so many sentences together before and guessed it was an