The 1908 Stair
The oldest employee. F sharp at full weight. Never oiled.
Kindly Light whistle
From the trawler of the same name. Sings in Signal Fires and in dreams.
The door
Its latch is the closest thing radio has to a signature.
Rain tray
The size of a dinner table; fed by a watering can with one hole.
Thunder sheet
Hung from the gallery rail. Struck only in emergencies and finales.
Seagull 1
The credible one. Seagull 2 is for crowd scenes.
Creaking bosun's chair
Certified by two coastguards and one sceptic.
Broken radio, prop
Tuned permanently to ourselves. The audience never notices.
Foghorn (hand)
Fits in a suitcase; does not fit in the schedule before 9 PM.
Wheelbarrow of gravel
For beaches. Refilled by season.
The goat
Hired in 1974, never left.union rules apply. Eats scripts marked 'urgent'.
Boat horn, twin
Two notes, one mile apart in the mix.
Telegraph key
Morse by Desmond, who learned it from a film and refuses correction.
Sand hourglass, minute
Times the dead air. Fifty-nine seconds. The sixtieth is the audience's.
Umbrella on drumskin
For rain that must sound undecided.
Cello, mute
Petra's. Also the only instrument allowed in Studio B.
Kettle
Not an effect. Infrastructure. Goes on at ten.
Teacups, eleven
One per player. The twelfth is the cat's and is never washed.
Squeaky boot
Left boot only. The right is silent and suspicious.
Wind machine
Hand-cranked. The sail is a repurposed spinnaker.