The Face in the Mirror

Synopsis

We, the audience, are accosted by the kids of Crowther Street. On the corner by the Co-op, they urge us to stay, to sit and listen - they have a terrible tale to tell. Number 28 Crowther Street mysteriously burned down a while ago, and the old lady who lived there, Margery, was never found. The house, built on the site of an old dance hall after the second world war, has been boarded up now, but the Crowther Street kids have been using the back yard as a place to hang out. Mikela and her friends are getting ready to go to a party, while her younger brother, Cody, is playing war games with his mates. Mikela’s bedroom mirror gets smashed and they’re both grounded. When their mum goes out to work, Cody’s mates come round, and Mikela, whose friends have all gone to the party without her, storms out of the house and takes refuge at number 28. In a wardrobe in the basement she discovers a beautiful dress. She tries it on and looks in the mirror, but instead of her reflection she sees another young woman, wearing the same dress. This young woman, Margery, is trapped, “locked in the moment she wanted to last forever”, just before the bomb fell - the one that killed her fiancé… Margery cries out to Mikela for help - Mikela, terrified, runs off to tell her friends what she’s seen. Cody and his mates, who have been spying on her, dive down into the basement - when they look into the mirror, they see uniforms, airmen, a parade of young soldiers about to head off to war. A young captain gives a speech. Just then Mikela comes back with her friends. Now they’re in a 1940’s dance hall, but the energetic sounds of a swing band are interrupted by the haunting wail of an air raid siren. The children try to escape, but there’s chaos, they can’t get out fast enough - Mikela smashes the mirror, there’s an explosion, the house collapses. Mikela and Cody are trapped inside…