The first appearance

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

I had been certain I could walk on when the curtain rose. From the narrow space behind it, I heard the audience settle, then a cough that seemed to travel the length of the hall. My palms dampened against the sides of my coat. I told myself the people beyond the curtain were only shadows.

The music began. My cue came, and I stepped into the light. For a moment the hall vanished; I could see only the painted doorway and the line I had learnt. Then a face in the front row turned towards me. The next words scattered. I stood silent as the music ended, and the pause stretched wider than the stage.

Someone in the wings whispered the opening phrase. I caught it, and the scene moved again. By the final line, I could hear the audience breathing with the story. Their applause rose as the curtain fell. I was still trembling, but I no longer wished to be hidden behind it.

Analyse how the writer uses language and structure to show the narrator’s changing response to performing before an audience. Support your answer with references to the passage.