Ragtime: 'kay, first we's gonna talk 'bout da riggin' system...

*Philip Riggin calls down from the catwalk* Are you guys talkin' about me?

Curse: *rolls his eyes* Rigging. *enunciates the G clearly* Ev'rythin' ain't f@#$in' 'bout you, ya know!

Ragtime: *laughs*

Riggin: *also laughs* If it isn't about me, don't say my name!

Curse: *sighs exasperatedly* I didn't say yer f@#$in' name...

Ragtime: *rolls eyes* Oh, don' you two start! We got somethin' ta do, rememba?

Curse: *grins and shouts up at Riggin* Yeah! Some o' us do actual f@#$in' work 'round heah!

Riggin: *snorts* I do more work than you do, Edwards!

Ragtime: *gets tired of the endless bickering match. steps forward with a grin while Curse and Riggin continue shouting good-natured insults back and forth* Yeah, dey's always like dis. *sighs a little* Anyway, take a look up dere wheah Riggin's standin'.
*as you look* Dat's da catwalk. Da catwalk's wheah ya go ta fix lights an' work da back line sets. *sees your look of confusion at the term "line set" and smiles* Don' worry...I'll get ta dat in a sec. *continues* Da catwalk heah's fifty feet up an', as ya can see, it ain't too big. Don' 'spect dose handrails ta hold ya up, eitha...dey's just fer balance.

Riggin: *yells down* Wanna bring him up here, Scarpetta?

Ragtime: *grins* Oh, you guys done arguin' now?

Curse: *smirks* 're we evah done f@#$in' arguin'?

Ragtime: *snerks* Good point. *grins at you* Ain't afraid o' heights, are ya?

Curse: *snorts* If ya are, it's 'bout time ya f@#$in' got ovah it.

Ragtime: *smiles* Don' worry 'bout him. C'mon, we'll show ya da shop an' da fly rail on da way up. *leads you over to the door next to McKay's office and opens it* Dis is da shop.

*Inside are several work tables, littered with various tools and pieces of wood. Over by the wall, a tall blond guy is turning a chair leg on a lathe. A short girl is sweeping around one of the tables where a pretty Italian girl is painting a poster*

Ragtime: *grins at the sight of the pretty Italian girl* Ciao, Rosa.

Rosalia: *smiles back* Ciao!

Ragtime: *walks over to Rosa and puts his arms around her. The two begin talking in Italian, both smiling brightly*

Curse: *rolls his eyes* We ain't gonna get f#@$in' nothin' outta him fer a while. *grins* Like 'e said, dis is da f@#$in' shop.

*the tall blond guy finishes with the lathe and turns around, smirking slightly* I don't think he put it exactly like that, Curse.

Curse: *grins and shrugs* Close e-f@#$in'-nough, Lance.

Lance: *rolls his eyes at Curse's language, then smiles nicely at you* Hi, I'm Craig Doctorow. But everybody calls me Lance. *shakes your hand* Welcome to the Rose. This is our shop, where most of the building and painting gets done. *smiles* I'm the shop foreman, which means that I make sure everything that's supposed to get built gets built.

Curse: *smirks at Lance's politeness* Ya wanna f@#$in' tell da guy 'bout da rules in heah, Mistah Shop F@#$in' Foreman?

Lance: *ignores the language and smiles* Sure. It's pretty simple. Always wear shoes and long pants; wear gloves when you're cutting stuff...

*the short girl calls from the closet* And keep it clean!

Lance: *smiles a little sheepishly* And that.

Curse: *rolls his eyes* Dat's Frankie. She f@#$in' likes work, fer some reason.

Frankie: *protests* There's nothing wrong with that! Or with wanting people to actually put things away instead of just tossing them around! *turns around and glares pointedly at Curse*

Curse: *grins at her*

Lance: *smiles at you* Anyway...*gestures toward the closet Frankie's buried in* That's the tool closet. If you take something out of there, put it back where you found it.

Frankie: Or I'll soak ya!

Curse: *rolls his eyes. sarcastically* Yeah, I'm f@#$in' terrified. Really.

Frankie: *glares* Don't you have something to do?

Curse: *grins* Yeah. *loudly* Soon as Scarpetta finishes bein' all f@#$in' cute!

Lance: *sighs at Curse's inability to be polite and then smiles at you* Nice meeting you. *goes to one of the tables to sand the chair leg he was working on*

Ragtime: *kisses Rosalia one last time and walks over, grinning sheepishly* Sorry. Ready ta check out da fly rail?

Curse: *smirks* Been f@#$in' ready since we f@#$in' walked in heah.

Ragtime: *blushes slightly and leads you out of the shop. walks across the stage to the stage right wall, which is lined with an interesting looking row of ropes, weights, and pulleys*

Curse: *leans on the wall next to the ropes and gestures toward them* Dis's da f@#$in' fly rail. All o' dose ropes're da f@#$in' line sets. Each one's got a number, an' dey go from upstage ta downstage.

Ragtime: *breaks in* Downstage is the part of the stage closest to the audience. Toward the back wall is upstage. Stage left is to yer left when you're facin' da audience, an' stage right is to yer right.

Curse: *continues, pointing to a rope* Pull on dat--da purchase line--an' da batten comes down.

Ragtime: *points up* Da battens're dose wood poles up dere...ya hang scenery an' drops on 'em. *turns to Curse* Actually, why don'tcha bring one in?

Curse: *nods and grins* Sure. *calls out* Line set thoity, comin' in!

Ragtime: *to you* Usually, somebody'd shout back "thank you". But dere's nobody onstage at da moment, so 'e's just gonna go on an' fly it in.

Curse: *unlocks the rope and pulls on it, bringing in a large painted backdrop and sending the stage weights up to the grid. locks the rope back into place* Always, always, always lock da f#@$in' rope!

Ragtime: *nods* Othawise it can come loose an' send weights flyin' all ovah da place. Dey call dat a runaway arbor.

Curse: *calls out* Line set thoity, goin' out! *pulls the other side of the rope and sends the drop back up to the fly loft. gestures toward the counterweights, which are now sitting close to eye level* Da thing da weights're on is da f#@$in' arbor. Ya gotta make sure da f@#$in' weights're balanced wit whatevah ya got on da f@#$in' batten, 'cause dat c'n give ya a runaway arbor, too.

Ragtime: An' if dat happens, like McKay said, shout "heads" an' run fer da house. *smiles* Da house's wheah da audience sits, in case ya didn' know.

Curse: *continuing with the information* Ya load weights up at da loadin' rail. It's level wit da catwalk.. C'mon. *walks to the back wall and starts up a narrow ladder*

Ragtime: *smiles reassuringly* Just don' look down an' you'll be fine. *follows Curse up the ladder*

Riggin: *as they reach the top. grins and calls over from the catwalk* It's about time! I thought you guys were never getting up here!

Ragtime: *grins* Sorry...we had ta take 'im by da shop an' showed 'im da fly rail.

Curse: *smirks* An' Scarpetta had ta f@#$in' make out wit Rosa.

Ragtime: *smirks back* You're just jealous.

Curse: *grins* Yeah, so?

Riggin: *turns from where he's focusing lights and smirks at Curse* I thought you said you had more important things to do than argue, Edwards.

Curse: *reluctantly abandons the opportunity to argue with Ragtime* Right. *gestures toward the wall. It's the same wall of ropes you saw earlier, but fifty feet higher* Dis is wheah ya f@#$in' load weight. When dey's hangin' a drop, somebody stays up heah an' puts a little weight on fer each thing dey put on da f#@$in' batten.

Ragtime: *nods* *points over to Riggin* Dat's da catwalk, o' course. Ya get up dere from stage left...dere's a ladder on da wall just like da one ya came up. *realizes you have no idea what Riggin is doing over there* Riggin's focusin'...aimin' da lights, dat is.

Riggin: Yeah, I've been hanging upside down getting the blasted things going.

Curse: *laughs* Have f@#$in' fun. *hates focusing lights*

Riggin: *grins* You gonna to take the kid up to the grid?

Ragtime: *turns to you and smiles* Feel up to it? It's another ten feet up.

Curse: *grins* 'course 'e's f@#$in' up to it! *starts up the other ladder*

*You follow and find yourself on a framework of metal beams. It's just like a real floor...as long as you don't look down.*

Ragtime: *is for once serious* Careful up heah...make sure yer steppin' on somethin' sturdy b'fore ya shift yer weight. An' look where you're walkin'.

Curse: *nods in agreement* 's'right...ya misstep an' you're f@#$in' dead. Sixty feet's a loooong f@#$in' way ta da floor. *doesn't mention that they have, in fact, had someone fall from here and die*

Ragtime: *gestures around at the large, multiple rope pulleys resting on the floor* Dis is where da line sets end up.*looks around* Don' guess dere's too much else ta look at up heah.

Curse: *shrugs* *grins* McKay's prob'ly f@#$in' lookin' for us by now, anyway.

Ragtime: *grins* Prob'ly. *goes over to the ladder and calls down* Comin' down! *turns back to you* Wait 'til I call clear 'fore ya start down. *goes down the ladder* Clear!

Curse: *follows down after you call clear. grins at you* Good f@#$in' job, kid...you're pickin' it up real quick.