The Last Screening

Text 1: The Circle of Light, by Miriam Vale

An original novel extract.

From the projection booth, Leila could see the whole cinema through a square of glass: the bowed heads of the audience, the red curtains and, in the foyer beyond, the poster announcing FINAL PERFORMANCE. She turned away from the poster. The manager had trusted her with the last screening, and she wanted to remember the trust, not the last.

She guided the film through the rollers, making a silver path between the tiny wheels. The mechanism accepted it with a clean click. Once the projector began, the booth gathered itself around its rhythm, and Leila’s world narrowed to spinning reels, numbered switches and the bright, exact edge of the picture. Her hands moved without hesitation. For a while, there was nothing beyond the machine.

A burst of laughter rose through the floorboards. Leila looked through the glass and saw a hundred faces lifted towards the screen. She smiled, although they could not see her. When the laughter stopped, the sudden hush exposed every creak of the old seats and the faint rattle of rain against the boarded ticket office.

Leila returned to the reels. At the changeover, she brought in the second reel so neatly that the story continued without a blink. A collective gasp came from below at exactly the right moment. She pressed both palms against the warm casing of the projector, as if she could hold the machine steady and keep the invisible join from becoming an ending.

Applause filled the auditorium, travelled up the stairwell and struck the booth door. Leila’s hand remained above the switch until the empty film flickered against the screen. Then she stopped the motor. The applause drained away; the projector answered with small metallic ticks as it cooled. Through the glass, the audience moved towards the exits, while Leila stayed beside the silent reels.

How does Miriam Vale use language and structure to show Leila’s mixed feelings about running the cinema’s final screening?

You should use relevant subject terminology to support your answer.