The medium

It was a murmur he’d heard at least  ten thousand times before. The one minute and twenty seconds of silence after the pre-show music was simply too much provocation for some; the restlessness spreads with the passing of every second, it gnaws relentlessly on  expectant minds, raising questions and heightening  tension. After twenty seconds the curious ones will crane their necks, looking for signs from the galleries. Closer to a minute they begin to whisper to their neighbours, “Where is he? What could be taking so long?” It is just at this moment, just before doubts begin to take seed, when he saunters out onto the stage and stands for another twenty seconds in the low light like a shadow on the wall. And that is what he did.

Tonight was not a night like the others. He was performing in a true theatre, old and prestigious with an air of…