Story 1
The Auditions¹

Gerald Humphries had directed² the Millbrook Amateur Dramatic Society³ for eleven years. In that time, he had staged⁴ fourteen productions, had three arguments⁵ with the village hall⁶ caretaker⁷, and developed⁸ a nervous twitch⁹ in his left eye that appeared¹⁰ every October.

1. 2to direct – leiten
2. 3amateur dramatic society – Laientheaterverein
3. 4to stage – inszenieren, auf die Bühne bringen
4. 5argument – Streit
5. 6village hall – Gemeindesaal, Dorfgemeinschaftshaus
6. 7caretaker – Hausmeister
7. 8to develop – entwickeln, bekommen
8. 9twitch – Zucken
9. 10to appear – auftreten, erscheinen

It was October now. The twitch had started.

'This year,' Gerald announced¹¹ to the empty¹² village hall, 'will be different.'

1. 11to announce – verkünden
2. 12empty – leer

He had said this every year. It had never been true.

The auditions for Cinderella¹³ were on a Tuesday evening. Gerald had placed adverts¹⁴ in the post office, the library, and the Co-op¹⁵. He had printed¹⁶ thirty copies of the audition notice¹⁷. He had set out¹⁸ forty chairs.

1. 13Cinderella – Aschenputtel
2. 14to place an advert – eine Anzeige aushängen
3. 15Co-op – britische Supermarktkette
4. 16to print – ausdrucken, drucken
5. 17notice – Aushang, Bekanntmachung
6. 18to set out – aufstellen

Seven people came.

Gerald looked at the seven people. The seven people looked at Gerald.

'Right¹⁹,' Gerald said. 'Welcome, everyone. Thank you for coming. As you know²⁰, we'll be performing²¹ Cinderella this Christmas. It's a wonderful story with many exciting roles.'

1. 19right – so, also gut
2. 20as you know – wie ihr wisst
3. 21to perform – aufführen

'How many roles?' asked Brenda Marsh, who had been in every Millbrook production since²² 1998.

1. 22since – seit

'Twelve,' Gerald said.

Everyone counted²³ the actors in the room. Everyone arrived at²⁴ seven.

1. 23to count – zählen
2. 24to arrive at sth – ankommen; auf etw. kommen

'We'll double up²⁵,' Gerald said brightly²⁶. 'Some of you will play two parts²⁷. Perhaps²⁸ three.'

1. 25to double up – Doppelrollen übernehmen
2. 26brightly – hell; munter, fröhlich
3. 27part – Teil; Rolle
4. 28perhaps – vielleicht

'I'm not playing a mouse,' said Dave Wilkins. Dave was six foot four²⁹ and worked at the building site³⁰. He had come because his wife had told him to³¹.

1. 29six foot four – etwa 1,93 m
2. 30building site – Baustelle
3. 31to tell sb to do sth – jdm. sagen, dass er etw. tun soll

'Nobody³² is playing a mouse, Dave. There are no mice³³ in our version.'

1. 32nobody – niemand
2. 33mouse – Maus

'There are mice in Cinderella,' Brenda said. 'They pull³⁴ the coach³⁵.'

1. 34to pull – ziehen
2. 35coach – Reisebus; Kutsche

'Not in our version.'

'What pulls the coach?'

'We don't have a coach.'

'What kind of Cinderella doesn't have a coach?'

Gerald's left eye twitched³⁶. 'The kind that has seven actors, Brenda.'

1. 36to twitch – zucken

The casting took³⁷ two hours. Gerald had prepared³⁸ a careful plan. The plan lasted³⁹ eight minutes before collapsing⁴⁰ entirely⁴¹. Brenda wanted to play the Fairy Godmother⁴². Dave's wife Karen wanted to play Cinderella. Dave did not want to play anything, but Gerald needed him because he was the only⁴³ person tall enough⁴⁴ to be the back end⁴⁵ of the pantomime horse⁴⁶.

1. 37to take – nehmen; dauern
2. 38to prepare – vorbereiten
3. 39to last – dauern; halten
4. 40to collapse – zusammenbrechen
5. 41entirely – völlig
6. 42fairy godmother – gute Fee
7. 43only – nur; einzig
8. 44enough – genug
9. 45back end – hinterer Teil, Hinterteil
10. 46pantomime horse – Pferdekostüm für zwei Darsteller; pantomime – komisches Weihnachtsmärchen /britisch/

'I'm not being the back end of a horse,' Dave said.

'It's a very important role,' Gerald said.

'It's a backside⁴⁷.'

1. 47backside – Hintern /umgangssprachlich/

'It's a theatrical⁴⁸ backside.'

1. 48theatrical – Theater-, Bühnen-

The biggest surprise⁴⁹ was Malcolm Price. Malcolm was sixty-three, retired⁵⁰, and had never acted⁵¹ in anything. He walked in during⁵² the second hour, sat down quietly⁵³, and said: 'I'd like to play the Dame⁵⁴.'

1. 49surprise – Überraschung
2. 50retired – im Ruhestand, in Rente
3. 51to act – handeln; schauspielern, spielen
4. 52during – während
5. 53quietly – leise, still
6. 54dame – komische Alte, von einem Mann gespielt

Everyone turned to look at him. Malcolm was a tall, thin man with grey hair and reading glasses. He looked like⁵⁵ an accountant⁵⁶. He had, in fact⁵⁷, been an accountant.

1. 55to look like sb – wie jd. aussehen
2. 56accountant – Buchhalter
3. 57in fact – tatsächlich

'The Dame?' Gerald said. 'You mean the Ugly⁵⁸ Stepmother⁵⁹?'

1. 58ugly – hässlich
2. 59stepmother – Stiefmutter

'The Wicked⁶⁰ Stepmother, yes. In the dress and the wig⁶¹. I've always wanted to try it.'

1. 60wicked – böse
2. 61wig – Perücke

Gerald stared at⁶² him. Malcolm stared back, perfectly⁶³ calm⁶⁴.

1. 62to stare at sb – jdn. anstarren
2. 63perfectly – völlig, vollkommen
3. 64calm – ruhig, gelassen

'Have you ever⁶⁵ acted before, Malcolm?'

1. 65ever – je, schon einmal

'No. But I've attended⁶⁶ forty-seven pantomimes. I know exactly⁶⁷ how it should⁶⁸ be done.'

1. 66to attend – besuchen
2. 67exactly – genau
3. 68should – sollte

Gerald looked at Malcolm. He looked at his list of seven actors and twelve roles. He looked at his twitching eye in the reflection⁶⁹ of his clipboard⁷⁰.

1. 69reflection – Spiegelbild
2. 70clipboard – Klemmbrett

'Welcome to the company⁷¹, Malcolm,' he said.

1. 71company – Firma; Ensemble, Truppe