Text A: an original contemporary practice extract.

The microphone produced one sharp crackle and then became silent. The host of the community reading tested the cable once before telling us that the equipment would not be used. She did not ask the audience to wait while somebody searched for a replacement.

Instead, she moved the front rows of chairs into a close semicircle and asked each reader to stand inside it. She shortened her introductions, reminded the performers to pause between pieces and checked that people at the back could hear. Without the raised stage and loudspeaker, the event felt less formal. During the questions, audience members spoke directly to the writers rather than sending notes to the host. The advertised programme remained, although the room no longer looked or sounded as anyone had expected.

Text B: an original contemporary practice extract.

The guided history walk was meant to begin by crossing the footbridge, but a maintenance barrier blocked the entrance. The guide gathered everyone in the nearby square, explained the problem and unfolded the route notes she had prepared.

She changed the order of the stops and began with buildings that could be seen from where we stood. Rather than giving her planned description of each one, she asked us to identify details such as altered windows and old shop signs. We joined the original route beyond the bridge later in the afternoon. By then, people who had expected only to listen were pointing things out and asking questions. The closed bridge had removed the guide’s planned opening, but it had not prevented the group from examining the area’s history.