Act Three
All the cast, except for Charlotte, were either on stage or about to make their entrance for the Mechanicals’ play. Standing quietly in the darkened wings allowed her breathing space to gather her thoughts. Not that there was much chance of reaching any satisfactory conclusions tonight, her head was fit to burst. Questions whizzed around her brain that were both confusing and unbelievable. Glenda was a loan shark? Barney loved her? Seriously? How the hell was she supposed to deal with all that?
Laughter erupted from the audience as Paul appeared on stage wearing the makeshift wall costume she’d made for him. He shuffled sideways across the stage, his head poking out from the top.
Her dad made his entrance as Pyramus, the love-struck hero of the play-within-a-play, and pretended to look through the hole in the wall. ‘“But what see I? No Thisbe do I see.”’ His hand went to his forehead, hamming up the melodrama of the piece.
Although it was great to see her dad enjoying himself – a far cry from the miserable wreck he’d been in the early months following their mother’s death – she couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed in him. She hadn’t known that Lauren had asked him for money. And whereas she appreciated he wasn’t rolling in cash, surely he could have helped her out. That’s what families did, didn’t they? Made sacrifices, even if it caused hardship. And knowing how proud Lauren was, she couldn’t imagine that it had been easy for her sister to ask for help. Even more reason as to why her dad shouldn’t have refused.
Further hysterical laughter followed when Nate appeared as Thisbe, wearing a Roman toga dress, his expression forlorn as he acted the reluctant heroine. As he turned around and the audience spotted that the back of his dress was hitched up, revealing his bare backside, they roared with laughter. Nate bent down and pressed his lips against the hole. ‘“My love! Thou art my love, I think?”’
Glenda ran forwards and unhooked his dress, pretending that ‘mooning’ the audience hadn’t been intentional. The audience rocked with laughter.
As Charlotte watched Glenda fuss over Nate’s costume, she felt a surge of anger towards the woman who’d extorted money from her sister. A woman who’d threatened, coerced and abused their supposed friendship. A woman who’d appeared sweet, funny and helpful, but was anything but. No wonder Lauren had been so utterly miserable.
Sylvia appeared high on the raised fairy-grove platform, carrying a lantern. The lights on stage faded, leaving only the lantern aglow. Unlike Glenda, Sylvia was a decent woman, who obviously cared deeply about Lauren as well as her dad. And that meant a lot. So what if she was a bit clumsy? It was nothing compared to Glenda’s crimes. ‘“This lantern doth the moon present!”’
Freddie roared loudly in his role as Lion. Florence carried on the sword for Pyramus, which was dripping with tomato ketchup.
Her dad took the sword and stabbed himself, ensuring the tip of the blade poked out from underneath his arm comically. ‘“Now I am dead.”’
Nate gasped and ran over, tripping on his dress and stumbling to his knees. ‘“Asleep, my love? What, dead, my dove?”’ He picked up the sword, struggling to yank it free from under Tony’s weight and stabbed himself. ‘“Thus Thisbe ends.”’ It took a while for Thisbe to die, mostly because the audience were laughing so much, but eventually the stage faded to black.
Charlotte prepared for her entrance. She picked up the large donkey head and placed it over her own. During the dress rehearsal, Barney had decided to move the scene where Bottom awakes from his dream to the end of the show. The first thing Bottom would see when he awoke would be Puck wearing the ass’s head, moving spookily about the stage. It was a great idea … in theory.
In reality, because she’d only had one opportunity to practise wearing the head, which was covered in horsehair and weighed a ton, she hadn’t appreciated how unstable the ruddy thing was. During the dress rehearsal, she’d almost toppled over, only remaining upright through sheer determination and improved core stability thanks to spending the summer negotiating the steep inclines of Penmullion.
Holding the thirty-inch head steady by its protruding ears, she quietly took up her position behind the backdrop of camouflage army netting. Through the narrow eye-slits, she could just make out her dad yawning and stretching as he awoke from Bottom’s dream. ‘“I have had a most rare vision,”’ he said, sitting up. ‘“I have had a dream past the wit of man to say what dream it was.”’
At this point, Charlotte was supposed to dart forwards and reveal herself to Bottom. Unfortunately, she didn’t realise the ears of the donkey head were caught in the army netting. Her entrapment only came to light when she made a move forwards and the netting locked tight like a well-designed seat belt. The ass’s head swivelled ninety degrees, blinding her view and masking her mouth. Unable to see, and with her arms and legs entangled in army netting, she realised there was no immediate escape. She yelled her muffled line from the back of the stage, hoping no one would notice.
Her dad faltered slightly over his speech, no doubt wondering why Puck’s head and body were facing in opposite directions.
She persevered as best she could, exhausted from having to shout her lines through two inches of wicker, her movements restricted to two steps either side of where she was entangled. She’d never been so relieved to reach the end of a scene. Well, except for the fly-rig scene, which she was still having nightmares about … and not just because she’d been forced to mount a concrete pillar. Barney’s declaration of love had been both startling and unexpected. She’d had no idea he felt that way. And why would she? He was attentive, yes. Affectionate, definitely. No man had ever paid her so much attention. Whether it was feeding her, massaging her, or showing her the delights of physical intimacy. But love? It didn’t make sense. People didn’t fall in love after a few weeks messing around … did they? It wasn’t logical.
The lights cut to black. Several pairs of hands sprung from nowhere and began groping her in the dark. Despite encouraging whispers that ‘no one will have noticed’, she remained sceptical. A green goblin wearing a back-to-front ass’s head, and stuck in army camouflage netting, was something most people would notice.
Eventually, she was freed from the netting, and able to deliver the show’s closing speech. As she moved forwards, carrying the donkey head under one arm, she was lit only by a follow spot. There was no one else on stage, it was just her and the audience.
She placed the donkey head on the ground. ‘“If we shadows have offended, think but this, and all is mended. That you have but slumbered here, while these visions did appear. So, give me your hands if we be friends, and Puck shall restore amends.”’
As she took her bow, she had to admit that receiving a rapturous round of applause was a nice experience. She could see the appeal.
The rest of the cast moved onto the stage and took up their positions for the end tableau.
As she turned and reached out to Oberon, he smiled and winked at her. Something gave way inside her, as if the last remnants of stress had finally melted away. She’d loved her time in Penmullion. She’d participated in amateur dramatics, made new friends, and enjoyed reuniting with her family, not to mention spending time with Barney, but she was returning to London next week and her Cornish adventure would be over.
As the clapping continued, Barney stood up and led the bows, which was an awkward affair as Lauren, Glenda, Sylvia and Nate all refused to hold hands. Never one to panic, Barney stepped forward and addressed the audience.
‘Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We hope you enjoyed tonight’s show and we appreciate you coming along to support the Isolde Players’ production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As you leave the auditorium tonight, you will see front of house personnel carrying buckets and collecting money for Hearty Lives Cornwall. This is a local project run throughout the county, encouraging children and families to adopt healthier lifestyles and, as such, lower the risk of heart disease. It’s something that has affected all of us only recently.’ He nodded at Sylvia, who disappeared off stage and returned with a huge bouquet of flowers. ‘Tonight’s performance is dedicated to our director and special guest this evening, Jonathan Myers.’
Sylvia carried the flowers over to Jonathan, who stood up and took a bow as the audience, cast and crew clapped loudly.
Charlotte hadn’t realised that Jonathan was in the audience. Amongst the clapping and whistling, she watched Barney step away from centre stage, allowing Jonathan to take the limelight. Jonathan’s cheeks reddened as he soaked up the applause. Considering how close the man had come to expiring, it was a miracle to see his recovery. A recovery that was only possible thanks to Barney.
There was no getting away from it, Glenda wasn’t the only person who she’d misjudged this summer. Barney Hubble wasn’t a lazy layabout, with no focus or prospects, but a born leader who worked extremely hard and had a lot to offer the world. It was just a shame he didn’t have a life plan, or a stable career like her – or at least she would have one, once she returned to London. Otherwise they might … What? Have continued their acquaintance?
Whatever. No point dwelling. It wasn’t like she’d developed feelings for him, was it? It was a summer fling. A dalliance. A temporary distraction. The ache in her chest was nothing more than the sadness everyone felt when a particularly good holiday was drawing to an end. It would fade soon enough … wouldn’t it?