BY PAUL GALLAGHER
It was a warm April day at Sunny Point seaside resort. Emma and Phillip, 14-year-old twins just arrived for the Easter holiday with their parents. Once at the hotel, they unpacked and went for a walk to explore the area. The family browsed the seaside shops along the sea front, but as they walked past the pier the Twins had a strange feeling like a twin sense.
The following day Emma and Phillip woke up early still feeling a bit strange from the day before. After breakfast, they asked their parents if they could go into town. Mum said “why don’t you go on your own. It’s not far as long as you stay together at all times”. They boarded the double decker bus from outside the hotel and went upstairs for a good view of the sea.
At the next stop a young boy got on and went upstairs and sat a couple of seats in front of the twins. He was unusually dressed in a long dark coat with the collar turned up and wearing an old-fashioned flat cap, making it difficult to see his face. As the bus arrived in town, the boy got off, followed by the twins. They walked behind him until he arrived at an old theatre where he went through a door marked ‘Stage Door’. The twins then went to the front of the theatre, thru’ the entrance doors and up to the ticket office. There was no one there but an envelope marked Emma and Phillip! Bewildered, they opened the envelope containing a note with tickets to see the afternoon matinee, “Master Amazing”. They looked at each other with surprise and decided to go to the show as they had been specially invited.
No one else was around as they went to their seats. The curtains opened and on stage was the boy from the bus. This time he was wearing colourful clothes. He started his performance by pulling three of the most beautiful white rabbits from a hat. The rabbits then disappeared in a bright flash. He then covered the hat with a silk cloth. As he removed it, some Doves appeared and flew away into the distance. On stage behind the boy was a large upright box which he entered and closed the door.
Again, a bright flash, the door opened and a flock of tiny birds flew out and the boy had disappeared. Suddenly, the curtains closed and there was an eerie silence.
The Twins could hardy speak and quickly made their way out of the theatre. When they arrived back at the hotel, they told their parents that they had gone to a small theatre in town and saw a magic show, although they thought best not to mention that they were the only ones there.
The rest of the week went by very quickly, and it was soon time to return home. Upon leaving the hotel the family drove past the pier, where the twins saw the boy at the pier entrance dressed in unusual clothes. They immediately asked their Dad to stop and got out of the car. The boy was just ahead of them, and as they ran after him, he disappeared near a small shelter. On the back of the door of the shelter was a very weather-beaten theatre poster. “Master Amazing”, daily performances through Easter Bank Holiday, April 1921.
The Twins looked shocked and went back to the car where their parents asked where they went. They were lost for words after seeing the poster showing a date exactly 100 years ago. They asked their Dad if he could drive to the theatre where they had gone a few days before. As they approached the theatre, they could see that the building was boarded up with a notice saying:
This property was originally Sunny Point’s Local Theatre, closed in April 1921 and now under renovation. Emma and Phillip felt very special to have been invited to see Master Amazing and will never forget him.