Charlotte Queen was already something of a legend in Scottish theatre. She had dropped out of drama school too, though in her case it wasn’t personal tragedy that precipitated her exit, but impatience, as she told interviewers. She felt restricted, she claimed, and decided to start her own company at the age of twenty-two. She was, by all accounts, a force of nature, though some observers noted that it didn’t hurt that her dad was Hamish Queen, London West End director and impresario: meaning she was as connected as she was rich. That said, Charlotte had easier paths open to her that she decided not to take. She had partly grown up at her family’s Highland retreat, where she saw touring shows by the RSC playing in local community centres and sports halls. She reasoned that the local punters weren’t simply turning out because it was the RSC. To an extent they were, but only because the brand guaranteed certain production values. Charlotte believed there was an untapped provincial audience for live theatre, and after a shaky start she was vindicated, as Fire Curtain became a popular and critically esteemed touring outfit.

Jasmine knew it was a big deal to have made any kind of impression on Charlotte. She was reputed to be flaky, capricious and egotistical, but if she took to you, she would draw out the best of your abilities and make you look brilliant on stage. It was said she truly valued her actors, made them feel magnificent, but that their job was always to be remarkable planets in orbit around her sun; that she had an indisputable eye for recognising talents, but only insofar as envisioning how they would augment her own. Jasmine didn’t care. Getting an audition for Fire Curtain had been a boost, getting a callback massive, and the possibility of a part in their Fringe show so tantalising that she couldn’t allow herself to think about it past ten at night or she would never get to sleep.

However, it was only a maybe, and it was a maybe for next August. She had to get real about the here and now, which was where Uncle Jim had stepped in.