The Power Cut

Text 1: Five Minutes to Curtain, by Priya Mehta

An original short story extract.

The hall went dark halfway through the final rehearsal. Tess shot out of her chair. “What happened? Where’s Miss Hall? Are we cancelling?” Her questions tumbled over one another as she hurried between the rows, her hands fluttering like trapped birds. Around her, the younger pupils began to whisper.

Lewis waited.

He switched on the small torch beside the sound desk and stood up carefully. “Stay where you are,” he said. “Tess, find Miss Hall. Jamie, open the curtains.” His voice was quiet but firm. One by one, the whispers stopped. A pale square of daylight appeared on the stage, and the room slowly returned to life.

When the main lights flickered on again, Tess gave a loud, breathless laugh. Lewis said nothing. He walked along the front row, checking each step and cable before he nodded towards the stage. “From the beginning,” he said.

How does Priya Mehta’s use of language and structure present Tess and Lewis as different from one another?

You could consider:

• the verbs and images used to describe each pupil
• the change of focus after the first paragraph
• the effects of sentence lengths and dialogue

Use relevant evidence and subject terminology in your response.