CHAPTER TEN F: A DIFFERENT KIND OF REHEARSAL
Imani organized a safety workshop for the volunteers while the theater remained closed.
The workshop took place in a public library room rather than inside the damaged building.
Celia agreed to explain how temporary stages and suspended scenery should be inspected.
She brought diagrams instead of photographs from Peter’s accident.
Nora attended after her afternoon shift and found the room filled with teenagers.
Several were young performers who had auditioned for the redevelopment company’s new arts series.
Imani greeted them without asking which organization they supported.
A boy named Tomas raised his hand and asked whether old theaters were always unsafe.
Celia said that age alone did not determine safety.
She explained that maintenance, inspection, and the behavior of people in charge mattered more than romantic descriptions of a building.
Another teenager asked whether a new building could be dangerous.
Celia said that it could.
She described how a modern stage could fail when people ignored a manufacturer’s instructions.
Nora watched Imani listen closely instead of trying to defend the old theater.
During a break, Tomas approached Nora with a crumpled audition brochure.
He said that the redevelopment coordinator had told him the old company hated young performers.
Nora asked what had made him believe that.
He said that the coordinator claimed Walter wanted to keep the theater for famous older actors.
Nora told him that Walter had once made decisions that hurt younger performers.
She also said that Imani was building a new program with young technicians in leadership roles.
Tomas looked surprised by the admission.
He asked whether he would be welcome at the next volunteer meeting.
Nora said that Imani could answer that better than she could.
Imani came over and invited him to help design a workshop for students.
Tomas asked whether he needed to choose between the new arts series and the old theater.
Imani said that nobody should have to choose a side to learn a craft.
Across the room, Celia was showing a group of students how to identify a damaged connection.
She asked them to describe what they saw without guessing who had caused it.
Nora recognized the discipline in that simple instruction.
The theater’s conflict had been filled with people who could describe guilt more confidently than they could describe a broken bracket.
After the workshop, Tomas helped fold the chairs.
He said that he had expected the meeting to be a campaign against the redevelopment company.
Imani said that the workshop was about keeping performers safe.
Tomas promised to return the following week.
Nora walked home with the image of young people arguing cheerfully about stage design.
She realized that a living theater might begin long before anyone reopened its doors.
