Lucky Break Read Online Free PDF Page A

like having a coat to keep you warm.’ His eyes went misty. ‘A magic cloak of confidence. To think some people just wander on to the stage, without any idea where they’re going.’
    â€˜Yes.’ Hettie was excited. ‘You know in that skipping scene, with the other girls, well, I’m actually meant to be visiting my Grandma, and then I get distracted, but all the time . . .’ Her face was flushed, and her voice rose in pitch. ‘I’m feeling guilty, I’m actually thinking, shit, Grandma’s waiting for me. And of course none of that is in the script.’
    â€˜Yes,’ Nell agreed. ‘That’s brilliant.’
    â€˜And if Thea is Close,’ Pierre added, ‘then you’ve got her rhythm for nothing. Her Shadow Moves are punching, slashing, floating, gliding, pressing, wringing, dabbing, flicking.’
    â€˜My God.’ Hettie tore open a packet of crisps. ‘Yes. I can work out every single one of her lines. Well,’ she laughed, ‘not that there are that many.’
    â€˜Whereas Moritz,’ Pierre squeezed his hand in for a crisp, ‘is Adrift, and the Shadow Moves for Adrift are punching, pressing, floating, flicking, wringing, slashing, gliding and dabbing.’
    â€˜Bloody hell! Does Silvio know what a genius you are at his work?’ Nell asked. She didn’t know how he’d memorised the lists, especially when so many of them were the same.
    â€˜I’m not sure, but I thought I’d better make an effort. In the third year we have to create whole characters from his Six Tables.’
    Hettie looked alarmed.
    Pierre sighed. ‘I think I’ll do my Mum, everything she says sounds as if she’s wringing out a sheet.’ He began to twist an imaginary piece of cotton, his face contorting with the effort. ‘For Christ’s sake son,’ his voice was strained, ‘when are you going to get a proper job and stop messing around?’
    â€˜You’re a genius.’
    â€˜Yeah. Well. I thought I’d better start making plans. I mean, what are they going to do? The ones who haven’t bothered really listening? I guess they’ll be out on their arses, doing walk-on parts in Panto, if they’re lucky.’ He drained his glass. ‘Actually, I feel sorry for my mate at Guildhall, not learning what we know. All they teach them there is tits and teeth. Maybe we should try and explain some of Silvio’s theories.’
    â€˜I’m not sure.’ Nell felt doubtful. ‘What if we get it wrong?’ She imagined attempting to reproduce Silvio’s work, the intricate multi-coloured charts, the graphs and tables, the three-dimensional drawing of a cube with abbreviated directions for the angles of your thoughts.
    â€˜True.’ Pierre tore open another packet of crisps. ‘Maybe we’re not ready yet. Anyway, you still haven’t guessed the identity of my beloved.’
    â€˜It’s me.’ Hettie licked her salty lips.
    â€˜Warm.’ He put an arm around her narrow shoulders and laid his head against her fine, pale hair. ‘If you were a boy, you’d be perfect.’
    â€˜I wonder if we’ll ever all work together?’ Nell watched them. ‘I mean in the future. When we get out.’
    â€˜It will be odd to be on stage with people not from Drama Arts,’ Pierre said. ‘I guess we’ll stand out. Or they will. Our training will put us on a whole other level.’
    Yes, Nell thought. She took a last sip of her whisky mac and felt entirely happy. There would be actors, acting, and then them , inhabiting their actual characters, an entire psychological life, both physical and mental, all mapped out. ‘It’s going to be so strange. Maybe we should set up our own company. The three of us!’
    A shadow loomed over their table. They all looked up. It was the man from the bar, the man in the overcoat and paisley scarf. ‘You