Break a Leg

Edwin Blackgaard finishes another poorly attended performance at the Harlequin Theatre and wonders why Odyssey refuses to appreciate the culture he offers. Walter Shakespeare suggests promoting the theater by sponsoring an event that ordinary families will enjoy. Edwin rejects the idea of a children's bicycle race until he realizes it could attract attention to himself and distribute theater brochures to parents. The grand prizes will be a new mountain bike and a year-long pass to Harlequin productions.

Shakespeare handles the steady stream of telephone calls, registration details, posters, publicity, and practical arrangements while Edwin takes credit for the brilliant plan. Edwin even insists that the race poster feature a large photograph of his face, regardless of the extra printing cost. When the theater's car remains in the garage after a fuel-pump problem, he and Shakespeare walk to the printer together to demand the change.

Alex Jefferson and his cousin Cal Jordan hear about the race and immediately argue over which of them will win the new bike. Cal especially wants it because he despises the outdated orange color of his current bicycle. They decide to race each other to McAlister Park as a test.

Cal takes an illegal shortcut along the sidewalk while Edwin and Shakespeare are walking around a corner. Alex warns him, but Cal cannot stop before crashing into Shakespeare. The collision breaks Shakespeare's leg. A doctor sets it in a cast and orders him to spend the next week in bed, warning that activity could slow his recovery. Cal's own bicycle is twisted beyond use, leaving him unable to enter the race.

Edwin must suddenly manage without the assistant who quietly performs nearly every practical task at the theater. At first, he insists that he is perfectly capable of arranging the race alone. Yet he needs Shakespeare's directions to find the phone book, the correct telephone listing, the telephone itself, and even the proper way to open a door. The simple work he usually takes for granted becomes a bewildering burden.

Cal visits the theater to apologize, but Shakespeare is asleep. Edwin asks Cal to demonstrate a stopwatch and pretends the question is merely hypothetical. He then struggles through household chores, slipping on a freshly mopped floor and breaking several things while trying to prepare tea. Edwin finally carries a cup upstairs to Shakespeare and admits how eager he is for his assistant to recover.

On race day, about a hundred children crowd around the registration table. Edwin tries to control the lines, stamp forms, and explain the procedures while radio reporter Cryin' Bryan Dern delivers an unenthusiastic live report. Alex checks on Shakespeare's recovery, and Edwin admits that working without him feels like losing his right hand.

The race begins with dozens of riders together. Alex gradually moves ahead until only David Straussberg remains in front of him. He catches David near the finish and wins by a narrow margin. Edwin presents the year-long theater pass, which Alex had nearly forgotten, along with the top-of-the-line mountain bike he wanted.

Cal congratulates his cousin and jokingly insists Alex was fortunate that he could not compete. When Alex wonders how to take two bicycles home, Cal offers to ride the old one. Alex goes further and gives it to him, on the condition that Cal care for it and stay off the sidewalks. The orange bicycle Cal mocked now becomes a generous gift he is delighted to receive.

Edwin returns to the theater after an event that, to his surprise, has gone well. He brings Shakespeare a special nameplate from the printer announcing that Walter Shakespeare is now vice president. Edwin still calls him the second most important person at the Harlequin, but the promotion shows how much he has learned to value the faithful assistant behind his work. Shakespeare's first responsibility in his new position is the task Edwin now considers most urgent: getting well soon.