on the bathroom mirror, then I squirt some dish liquid on one of the pillows on the bed. This is just to scare them out of calling the police. It’s good if they think we are freaks who might come back.

We go out the back way, through the kitchen. Outside, in the alley, it’s nearly dusk. I put my arm around Irene’s shoulder. We go to the Mexican chicken place for a little dinner.

at ease

Cate knows most people are attracted to working in the theater because of the hubbub—the accumulating and quickening pace of getting something ready, the fluid (sometimes romantic) camaraderie of cast and crew, the excitement of having pulled together and done something as a team. The last-minute crises (lead actor comes down with flu, uncle’s mustache goes missing between acts) and their rushed resolutions (understudy steps in, passable mustache is cut out of an old fake beard). The thrilling sounds in the darkness beyond the stage—the satin shiver of coats being shed, the light flapping of programs being opened. The quiet that descends on the room as the stage lights come up. The hoped-for perfection of performance.

For her, it’s different. She’s not a particularly social person. Out of necessity she has developed into a team player, but for her the best part happens when she is alone, reading the play and imagining it at work on the set she will create. Filling in the negative space between the actors, giving them what they will require for whatever moves they make. She starts with inspiration drawings, then uses Vectr to make 3-D renderings of sets. She also makes models. Old-fashioned, but they still give the most reliable idea of what the finished set is going to look like.

For local shows in small venues, she roams around prop rental houses, or more often junk stores where the used this or rented that can be obtained. What she’s bought, she modifies with paint, hammer, glue. She’s a little skittish around saws, still.

What happens during the performance will then be snug inside its setting. Once the curtain goes up, Cate’s job, for the most part, is over.