The Evening Performance: A Novel of Theatrical Discipline and International Espionage

A retired accountant notices that the actors aren't saying their lines correctly. Four intelligence services notice something else entirely. At the Grand Imperial Theatre, The Kingdom at the Edge of the World appears to be an ordinary theatrical production. But beneath the costumes, stage directions, and carefully rehearsed dialogue lies an international communications network-one that has operated undetected for years. British Intelligence is watching. The Aurigans are watching. The mysterious Grey Office is watching. Several other intelligence services are watching. And then there is Cedric Pritchard. Pritchard is a retired senior accounts manager with twenty-eight years of service and a firm belief that paperwork should be filed correctly because otherwise it will not be filed correctly. When he notices that an actor has changed a line, he does what any reasonable man would do. He goes back to the theatre. Again. And again. Accompanied by his friend Lionel Welles, a former procurement specialist with strong opinions regarding tea, breakfast service, and passenger accommodations, Pritchard begins documenting the irregularities. The intelligence services begin documenting Pritchard. What follows is a quiet, methodical collision between international espionage and two perfectly ordinary men who have absolutely no idea that they are interfering with a highly classified operation. Sometimes the greatest threat to a secret intelligence network is not a brilliant code breaker. Sometimes it is a man in the audience who has paid good money and expects the actors to know their lines.