THEATRE FIRE!

Evidently the universe has a twisted sense of humor.

What’s past is prologue.

—William Shakespeare,

The Tempest, act ii, scene i

To distract myself from the elevator fire, I’ve been organizing the projection room this week. I plan on making it into an office for now, so I can be better organized to complete the many projects I have before me.

First thing this morning, I was sifting through the many oddities in the space when I heard a box slide off the shelf behind me and crash to the floor. I turned around to see a crate with several film canisters spilling out of it. When my heartbeat had returned to a normal rate, I started to put the films back into the box.

That’s when I noticed one of the canisters had a label reading “Fire, 1939.” I put the film into the projector, and was shocked when the headline flashed into view. See for yourself—it seems that history does indeed repeat itself.

While the film reel doesn’t mention any lightning strike that time, the building does seem to have an unusual history with fire. You can see a newspaper article describing another fire here.

It seems a little weird that I would find this reel this morning, just a few days after the fire. But the truth is, I didn’t find it.

It found me.

It seems that strange coincidences are not the exception in this theatre.

They are the rule.