Dicky Rowntree a well-liked actor in the 60's went through a difficult divorce. They say it takes time to get over these things, and he had had his share, alone and depressed for the last few months. Unfortunately his wallet had taken a beating along with his self-confidence and eventually he really needed to get back to work. Eventually he plucked up enough courage to visit his agent. They looked at various possibilities and decided to go after the role of Robin Hood, at a prominent West End Christmas pantomime. The only hitch was that the profile required applicants to be at least 6ft tall. Dicky knew he could handle the job but he was only 5ft 5ins. “Don’t worry,” said his agent, “we’ll get you a pair of those extra high-heeled platform shoes, for the audition!” A few days later, Dicky stumbles into the theatre, wobbling on top of four inch platforms. He keeps tripping over, and almost breaks his neck while stumbling up the stage stairs for the audition.
Everything actually goes extremely well, with both director and producer liking what they see. The only one thing the director is concerned about is Dicky's height. “Don’t worry,” says the producer, “we’ll get him a pair of those extra high-heeled platform shoes!”
It’s all well and good stretching yourself, where you can be stretched, but if you go too far, you could end up running around like a headless chicken!