Ground Zero
Pinto stood at the centre of the stage with the spotlight just in front of him and a number of red curtains flowing down behind him. He was staring at the piece of paper he held in his hands, it was list of acts that would be performing tomorrow evening.
Pinto is a public entertainer. He had tried so many things out, even changed stage names but it hasn't worked out. In fact the only thing that has been consistent with Pinto would be his goatie.
He is yet trying out another alternative. He is going to host a stage play, it has been ages since such had taken place in town and he thinks this would definitely put him in the spotlight.
After going through the list and being satisfied, he takes his eyes off the paper and runs them from one end of the theatre to another. "This is magnificent" he soliloquizes.
The theatre takes the shape of two halves of a circle stacked up on each other.
The seats are arranged on both sides of a path that divides the room almost symmetrically. A red rug runs from the entrance till it aligns with the feets of the first rows of seats.
The theatre has just two exits, east and west. The eastern exit is the only one for the audience and the western exit is for the backstage crew, only open to the audience when there's an emergency.
The walls of the theatre are made of solid bricks but lined with mahogany wood in arranged end-to-end to form a chain pattern.
Pinto had spent a fortune to rent the theatre and couldn't afford not to make huge returns on this investment.
Some hours to showtime, Pinto is in his dressing room getting ready to be the man of the moment. He stands before a standing mirror in a wooden frame and practices his well conjured lines that would wow his audience.
There's is so much adrenaline rushing through his veins. Pinto is so excited, he dances to the western side of the room some boxes are arranged together. It's a bit dark so he turns on the second lightbulb in the room.
The boxes contains the props for every act, he goes through the content of the boxes to make sure everything is in place.
The whole Theatre was full of chatter like the chirping sound of birds. It was dark, but one could still make out moving figures in the audience. A dim light lit up on the audience but the stage remained dark and then the spotlight swung back and forth, briefly revealing the figures of a man. The theatre went dead silent.
The spotlight came again this time and was now on a single figure. He was wearing a hat and a cape that was flowing continuously like a stream. When the figure turned, behold it was a faceless man. The audience remained silent. The spotlight turned off and then on. And there was Pinto! And at that moment the crowd gave a round of applause.
It was the third play now, and the crowd hadn't booed any of his performances. Pinto was on cloud nine, he of all people knew how hard it was to impress an audience. He was glad his "never die" attitude was yielding it fruits but he was more happy that his audience where finally happy.
