LOOKING ON, passing by

Life is full of little incidents that pass by almost unnoticed. The same incidents can give rise to all sorts of speculation and repercussion if they touch the mind of somebody present. If the somebody is a writer, the possibilities mushroom and build upon themselves.

Maybe the best example of this phenomenon is JB Priestley’s first play, Dangerous Corner, where a chance remark when somebody recognises a cigarette box leads to a minefield of revelations and sordid truths and a highly dramatic climax; then the play re-starts, the cigarette box is passed around without comment, and life goes on as usual.

Martin Domleo of Preston, Lancashire, had one of these dangerous corner moments