Stories 1.0 Scenario

As the audience enters the theater the stage is buzzing with activity—indeed, stagehands won’t complete their work until seconds before the house lights dim. Backstage chatter is played over the sound system as musicians tune up and play bits of various melodies that will be heard later in the performance (to help plant the melodies). The stage manager is heard checking each of the departments over the intercom, amid rewinding audio tape gibberish. Followspots are focused on the wall next to the proscenium (or similar visible location), running through the various color gels, and so on.

And if that’s not enough to tell the audience they’re in for an evening that's something different, and to further evade and disarm their expectations, on the stage one of the actors temporarily plays the part of a rumpled “Lecturer”, complete with blackboard, chalk and stack of blue exam booklets. He holds forth with a truly substantive lecture on the history of sleight-of-hand and illusion—extemporaneously bantering back and forth with various members of the audience when the opportunity arises.

As curtain time approaches, everything comes together at once. The Lecturer hurriedly exits—much like the rabbit running late into the hole in “Alice in Wonderland”, the stage manager calmly walks on from the wings to center stage while calling the final cues, formally welcomes the audience, announces any cast changes and reminds them not to take photos. And the evening itself begins....