‘Yessss!’ shouted Garrick, leaping out of his seat.
‘Double what!’ Olivia said. ‘Garrick is Romeo?’
‘The supporting roles will be posted outside momentarily.’ Camilla had to shout over the noise of the auditionees – some disappointed at not getting lead roles but most chattering about Garrick. ‘Will the four leads please stay behind for a briefing? The rest of you may go.’
Olivia was stunned. Garrick had spent his entire audition twitching and hopping all over the place … He was awful! At one point, he was actually lying down on the stage! She couldn’t make sense of it, but made her way up to the front, following Jackson through the dispersing crowd.
‘You might be wondering,’ Camilla said when the four of them had gathered around, ‘why the roles were cast in this way.’
Olivia held herself back from shouting, ‘You bet I am!’
‘If you’ll follow me, I have something to show you.’ She led the small group up the side steps on to the stage. She paused before taking them into the wings. ‘You may have heard that my production of Romeo and Juliet was going to have a “twist”,’ she said and the four of them nodded. ‘Well –’
Before Camilla could continue, the theatre doors banged open and in strode their stuffy English teacher, Mr Wagenbach, closely followed by Amy Teller. Mr Wagenbach brandished a stack of papers that looked like a script and his face was the same shade of aubergine as his tie.
‘H-how could you?’ he spluttered as he stomped up the stage steps. ‘This so-called “adaptation” of Romeo and Juliet is an abomination!’
Olivia was stunned, but Camilla looked completely composed.
‘How can you cast the most famous lovers in all of literature as aliens and robots?’ he shouted.
Robots? Olivia thought. What is he talking about?
‘If you would just calm down, sir,’ Camilla began.
‘I will not calm down, young lady!’ he ranted. ‘You cannot set one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays in outer space! I have a mind to cancel this production with immediate effect.’
It finally hit Olivia – the twist Camilla had been about to reveal was that the play had a sci-fi theme. She truly was making it her own.
Does this mean I have to learn cyborg? Olivia wondered, knowing her friend was fluent in the Cyborg Beta language.
Amy Teller had been nudging closer and closer to Jackson. She straightened her green tailored jacket. ‘If you think that Jackson Caulfield is going to waste his time in the lead role of this nonsense, you should think again.’
Camilla narrowed her eyes. ‘I’m pleased to inform you that Garrick Stevens will be playing the lead in my play.’
Both adults turned to stare at the lanky, oddly dressed person who, up until then, had been doodling on his jeans in black pen.
He waved, accidentally dropping the pen. ‘That’s me.’ Then he reached over his shoulder to scratch his back.
Amy whipped her head back to Camilla. ‘You are kidding me.’
‘I get to play Mercutio,’ Jackson put in.
Amy gasped. ‘But he dies halfway through.’
Jackson turned to Camilla. ‘And I have to say thank you for the opportunity. You should know that I am fully committed to this production.’ He looked at Amy pointedly. ‘And all my other engagements will be cancelled until after closing night.’
Amy looked like a goldfish. Her mouth kept opening and closing, with no sound coming out.
Camilla nodded. ‘Thank you.’ Then she turned to the adults. ‘Look, I am aware that Shakespeare in outer space isn’t how it’s usually done, but that is the best thing about his plays. They are universal, and his stories and characters are so rich they can be brought to life anywhere.’
Mr Wagenbach’s purple faded to lilac.
Camilla kept going. ‘Changing the setting will open his message to a wider audience, who might not otherwise appreciate the quality of his writing. I want the school – no, the world – to see how powerful it can be.’
Olivia was impressed. Her friend knew exactly what to say to win over the teacher. It was almost a call to arms, an impassioned advertisement for Mr Wagenbach’s favourite playwright.
‘Perhaps …’ he began. ‘Perhaps you are right.’
Amy Teller rolled her eyes.
‘I was hasty in my judgement,’ he decided. ‘You carry on, Camilla. Our school – and our drama department – is lucky to have someone like you.’
‘Thank you,’ she said politely.
‘I want approval over the costume,’ demanded Amy.
Camilla crossed her arms. ‘I’m willing to offer consultation, but that’s as far as it goes.’
Olivia was impressed with how well Camilla could handle the fireball that was Jackson’s manager. I wouldn’t want to have to negotiate with either of them, Olivia thought.
‘Consultation is for D-listers,’ Amy retorted. ‘Jackson is an A-plus-lister.’
‘I have faith in my director, Amy,’ Jackson said, stepping to Camilla’s defence. ‘She has the most invested in this production, and I’m sure everything will look great.’
Amy narrowed her eyes. ‘Well, I’m not calling Inside Hollywood until I see the costumes.’
As Amy and Mr Wagenbach left the theatre, Camilla turned back to her actors.
Charlotte looked like a balloon about to pop. ‘What were they talking about?’ she demanded.
‘That’s what I was trying to tell you,’ Camilla explained. ‘Come with me.’ She pushed aside a heavy black curtain and walked through the wings. She opened a side door into the costume room and led the small group to a rack near the back.
‘This will be a Coal Knightley-inspired version of Romeo and Juliet. The words and the story are pretty much the same, but the Capulets are robots and the Montagues are aliens. It’s going to be awesome!’
Garrick looked confused. ‘Aliens?’
‘Haven’t you guys seen that awesome 1950s movie Forbidden Planet?’ she said enthusiastically. ‘It was sci-fi Shakespeare and a total cult phenomenon.’
Olivia shook her head. ‘Sorry.’ She stared at the metallic outfits and tentacle-like arms that were hanging from the rack. Sci-fi Shakespeare was definitely going to be … memorable.