Blue Door Venture by Pamela Brown

Author:Pamela Brown [Pamela Brown]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781782691921
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Published: 2018-02-26T16:00:00+00:00

11

VILLAGE DRAMA

The school hall of Little Heseltine was tiny, smaller than the Blue Door Theatre. The village only consisted of a church, a school, two inns, a shop and a cluster of thatched cottages.

‘How funny to go to school here,’ remarked Vicky as the car drew up outside.

‘How many pupils are there, Miss Felton?’ asked Lyn.

‘Only twenty. And ten of them are in the play.’

‘Don’t the other ten feel bad about it?’ Lyn wanted to know.

‘Yes. But they can’t be in it because they live so far away that they can’t stay for the late rehearsals like the ones from the village. Ah, here’s Miss Presto.’ A brown-faced lady of uncertain age with dark hair wound round her head in a coronet had come to the gate. She greeted Miss Felton warmly, looking surprised at seeing the three girls.

‘Yes, I’ve got some visitors for you today, Miss Presto. Three real actresses…’ Miss Presto’s mouth formed an ‘O’ of surprise, and her dark brows disappeared into her hair-line. ‘They’ve come to give us advice about the play, then one of them will adopt you and drop in every day until the festival.’

‘How splendid!’ cried Miss Presto. ‘The children will be pleased.’

They were led into the schoolroom, where twenty desks were arranged in rows, and filled with a medley of girls and boys from four to fourteen or fifteen who all goggled at the sight of the Blue Doors. Round the walls there was a brightly coloured frieze, and on the blackboard a picture of a windmill that all the pupils were copying on to their drawing boards.

‘Here’s Miss Felton, children,’ cried Miss Presto. ‘Say good morning to her.’

‘Good morning, Miss Felton,’ they chorused in a broad West Country burr.

‘Well, it’s time for rehearsal of the play, so those not in it can go out and get on with the gardens.’

‘Can’t we watch, miss?’ asked a timid voice.

‘No—you’re all going to be the audience at the dress rehearsal, aren’t you? Now off you go.’ When they had gone, with a scuffle of boots and a banging of desk lids, Miss Presto announced to the remainder, ‘Now these three young ladies are professional actresses who have come to see your play today, and they are going to give us their advice and criticism, so do your best, children. And no books today. You all know it perfectly well.’

The desks were pushed to the side of the room to make a space large enough for a stage, and after a lot of chatter and giggling and squabbling, the children were manoeuvred into their correct positions for the beginning of the play, and the two teachers and the Blue Doors settled into chairs in front of them.

It was a rough and unpolished one-act play about the Restoration period, and at times the girls found it very hard not to laugh. The West Country dialect was so wrong for the courtiers they were supposed to represent. And yet these children had amazing sincerity and enthusiasm. The

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