AustLit

'The metal grill inside the doorway I squeezed through looks solid enough, so I edge out across it, feeling for flaws beneath the dust. To my left is the pit, open like a grave; ahead, the chair-less floor looks madly slanted. Light falls in through the round windows in swing doors at the back. There is a little box office squeezed in beside them. Above my head, the curve of the upper circle is just visible. Once-ornate plaster clings on, rotted with damp. For a second I imagine a rowdy audience up there, but the illusion passes.' (Introduction 26)