2.7.02 – what about bob, part II

remember what i said about the dead guy in the props closet, back on 1.4.02? well, there’s more to that story. see, tradition dictates that the ashtray containing the remains of bob get to go onstage for the final performance of every show. last sunday was the closing performance of Flyin’ West, and so mike found a nice out-of-the-way spot for bob to sit upstage during the show.

at intermission, one the actors came off stage and said that she’d had trouble opening the front door (the set is part of an 1890’s farmhouse). when i went onstage to look at the door, i discovered that the deadbolt was sticking out. i tried to poke it back into the lock, but it was stuck fast. stephanie had only been able to open the door because she forced it, breaking off the piece of wood on the door jam that the deadbolt was resting against. the doorknob and lock were the old-fashioned kind; the only way to turn the deadbolt would have been to insert a skeleton key into the keyhole. but here’s the thing: there are no keys for this door. there never were any keys purchased or fitted into the lock, because we had no reason to lock any of the doors onstage. since we had no keys, mike had to take the whole lock mechanism apart during intermission and rebuild the door without the deadbolt. now, we know that the door was working normally at the top of the show, because it’s one of the last things that the stage manager checks before the show starts. the door operated normally through most of the first act, because lots of characters go in and out of the door. then, sometime before the last entrance, the deadbolt was turned out. (terrible use of the passive voice, i know.) without a key, there’s no way it could have been turned accidentally. so my theory is it was bob’s doing. after all, isn’t that what mischievous spirits do? they lock and unlock doors. how many unsolved mysteries specials have you seen in which some old house is plagued by a ghost who loves to play with the door locks? everyone swears that in ten years, bob has never made any sort of mischief, but on the other hand, this winter was the first time that bob didn’t get to go on for his final performance. the last six performances of Lake Effect (the show before Flyin’ West) were canceled because of the blizzard. since no one anticipated that the storm would cancel the show, bob didn’t get a chance to go on for Lake Effect. ever since then, we’ve been joking about how bob’s spirit must be restless, but now i’m convinced that there’s something there to it. maybe bob was just trying to let us know that he’s still hanging around the theatre.