Solo [The Amphitheater] The Show Must Go On

[Alia Beaudouin]

14th of Spring, 514

Alia couldn't believe she'd been stupid enough to come to work today. Her stomach had been killing her ever since she had been dunked head-first into the murky water that swamped Riverfall. She shivered, one second she was standing on the stage, banishing imaginary demons for a show, the next she was a foot underneath the surface of murky, muddy water.

That hadn’t been her best day.

What was worse, this wasn’t any practice day. It was a performance day. The Amphitheater groups had done their rounds and the dial was once again pointed back at the actors. Today was the day they preform. And of course, it was the day Alia felt the worse. Not that she could take the day off, no, the stage master would not tolerate such laziness. Laziness, being Alia felt as if she was about to throw up.

Hopefully, if she did throw up, she would throw up on the stage master. That would teach him to force sick actors to come to work. Then again, it would probably just get her fired.

Striding down the path Jorin had shown her all those seasons ago, Alia tried to look as healthy as possible. Her stride wasn’t exactly striding, though, it was more of slowly inching down towards the Amphitheater, her stomach feeling as if it was about to turn inside out. She really should have stayed home today, no matter the consequences.
Sure, her pay would be docked, but then again, it would be docked if she threw up on another actor as well. But the latter might cause damage to more than just her pocketbook.

On a more positive note, at least it wasn’t raining.
The pouring rain that had flooded Riverfall had finally let up a bit, and though the ground still made swishing sounds as Alia trud through it, there wasn’t any standing water. Just in case, though, the Inarta had worn her high rain boots. She wasn’t risking the day getting any worse, so she came prepared.

Her script, for last minute run-overs, was in the waterproof case she had bought several days before, and her hair was held back in a long ponytail, which kept it out of her face and contained in case she slipped. No, today was not going to get any worse.

That, is, unless she spoke to soon.
Which, of course, with her luck, she was.
Even from fifty yards away, she could hear the stagemaster’s shout. And, what a surprise, he was shouting her name. Luckily, no patrons had arrived early at the Amphitheater to hear it.

She couldn’t understand why she was needed so badly, and even with her stomach killing her with every stride, she quickened her pace. One didn’t make the stagemaster wait, or else. Or else what, she remembered quite unfondly, was a question best left unanswered.

As she hurried towards the stage, she thought about her role, mentally rehearsing how she would say each line, how her voice would be changed from normality to fit her role. Even though she wasn’t a leading actor, her part in the play was quite important, with her character, though not essential, adding quite a bit of detail to the plot. For once, she felt needed in her work. Though, not for long, as she soon realized why the stagemaster had been calling her.

Every actor that was taking part in the play had already arrived, from the players that never spoke to the leading lady and leading man. Apparently, it seemed, the stagemaster had decided to start the play early, which meant that Alia was now late.
Now, wasn't this a great way to start the day?

[Alia Beaudouin]

”Alia Beaudouin! Where the hai have you been? We could’ve gotten through the entire play by the time you arrived!”
Well, petch. Even though Alia was pretty sure they couldn’t have gotten through everything, as the play was quite long, she still felt as if the delay was her fault. What exactly couldn’t they practice, though? Her part wasn’t essential to the story, so Alia was pretty sure
it was more of the Stage master’s obsession with everyone coming to work on time that was holding them back, not her absence.

Sheepishly joining the crowd of actors, Alia hastily apologized. ”Sorry about that, I haven’t been feeling well lately and-”
”Excuses, excuses! Always excuses, for all of you!” He turned back to the small crowd of actors, of which he towered over as he stood on the stage. He marched back and forth, like a drill sergeant ordering his army around. Alia sighed, it seemed to be like this all the time. No one could ever do anything right.

That is, unless you were the actual Stagemaster. In which case, you would always be right, no matter how many of the Riverfall Amphitheater actors told you that something was wrong. No, the stagemaster was always right. Always.

Quietly filing to the back of the group, Alia waited and thought as the stage master ranted on. She really couldn’t keep doing this, annoying the stage master- her boss to the point in which he openly rants in front of the entire crew. Then again, he did that a lot. There was no way to prevent it. The stage master was a volatile man, he swung from easily impressed to disapproving of absolutely everything depending on who he was talking to.

Unfortunately, the majority of the actors employed at the Amphitheater fell into the latter category.

As the stage master droned on, Alia thought departed from relevant topics into more of a daydreaming state. Her stomach still felt as if it was tied in knots, but at least she could block both that and the stage master’s voice out at once. It made things seem a lot quieter, and her thoughts a lot clearer.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t block everything out for long, and soon enough, the small crowd of actors was swimming towards the stage, moving into position for a costumed last minute rehearsal. Alia was glad she wasn’t in the first few scenes, her character appeared with the leading lady, who only came into play in the second act.

Alia seemed to be moving up the ranks in acting, at first she had only played an extra character, a lineless role that did little more than stand awkwardly stand around in the background, sometimes they were used as fodder for, most of the time, the leading man to fake slaughter in some of the more violent plays. As she had continued her career though, Alia had gotten to the point where she was often an important supporting character, once even scoring the lead role. Many a time she played an understudy to the leading lady, though it was rare that the lead roles were absent.
As her stomach churned again, Alia was reminded of just why a leading role might be absent.

Forcing herself to draw her attention back to the stage, Alia noticed some early watchers were arriving at the Amphitheater now, and the first act had just ended. Ready for the next act, Alia hurried backstage, next to the actress playing the leading lady. In all seriousness, Alia decided she probably would have declined the role of leading lady should it have been given to her. Alia could barely stand beside the woman who had been cast the part; her costume was gigantic.

Apparently the woman was playing a Zith of some sort- Her costume was a set of large, seemingly heavy wings that often got in the way of things. Alia had seen the actress trip over herself several times over the duration of rehearsal. Alia had been luckier with her role, she played a human slave to the Zith actress, so though she appeared on stage frequently, she had only short lines, with a costume of nothing more than dark clothing. An easy part, an easy execution, right?

Glancing back at the audience, it seemed that the majority of the watchers had arrived, so there wouldn’t be time to practice more than just the first act. Backing down from the stage, Alia realized she wouldn’t have any time to practice. In which case, there would be no room for mistakes. Improvisation is key, and this performance could quite easily; and quick quickly; turn into a lock.

[Alia Beaudouin]

The stage master’s booming voice cut through the still air of the outdoor Amphitheater.
”Hello ladies and gentleman, one and all, welcome, welcome, to The Phantom in the Darkness.

It was starting, cheesy name and all. The actors of the first scene - a bar scene in which many background and main characters alike were drinking - got into position as the stagemaster stepped off stage. Once the applause from the audience died down, the act began, and Alia’s stomach decided to take another nosedive.

Covering her mouth and immediately sitting down, Alia tuned out the performance going on behind her to focus on not throwing up. Her stage partner- the leading lady, looked down on her, concerned. Unfortunately, with the play going on, they couldn’t talk much, so she just mouthed are you okay? repeatedly until Alia nodded at her, regaining her composure. She really shouldn’t have come to work today. One of the background actors could have taken her part easily- it wasn’t as if she had that many lines.

Turning her attention back to the stage, Alia watched the act. Right now, the actors onstage were pretending to panic. In the play, word had just come in about a Zith invasion, about how they were taking prisoners, and of course, about how a hero was needed. The entire play was literally just about the hero chasing down Alia’s stage partner, the “Zith” woman, because he thought she was different from the other Zith. Unfortunately, she wasn’t.

Onstage, the knight actors drew their wooden swords and prepared for battle, each of them acting out “heroic” introductions to their knighthood. Then, they rushed off stage, eager to go slay what ever beast was on the other side. After a short round of applause, the next scene began, and of course, Alia was required onstage.

Just as Alia managed to get to a manageable position, she was needed. What luck. Standing back up from where she had been bent over, trying not to empty the contents of her stomach onto the grass, Alia slowly shuffled to the steps of the stage, waiting for her cue. Sure enough, once all the actors playing knights removed themselves from the stage, the stage master motioned for the next group of actors to come onstage. The next group of actors, including Alia.

Shuffling to the steps so she could stand next to her overly-dressed partner, Alia slowly inched on stage. Realizing she probably looked like a fool, she quickened her pace just enough to keep up with her stage partner. The actors playing knights had the first lines, luckily, so Alia had some time to regain her composure before it was her turn to act. Soon, another actor playing a knight spoke up, reading his lines almost robotically. Alia could tell he was new, but didn't let that distract her from the play.
”Halt! There they go, the monsters, stealing our wives, our children, to put in their stew!”

Though Alia was pretty certain Zith didn’t use people in stew- if they made stew at all- she didn’t bring up any questions. Plays were not meant to be accurate they were meant to be entertaining.

"How did they get inside the city? Who let them in?"

As Alia’s thoughts wandered and the play continued on, she vaguely heard more dramatic dialogue such as woe is me, we’re all going to die, and we must chase after them! rather than actual action.
It was slightly frustrating in a way, having so much talk with so little action.

Finally, the main character got his act together and finally decided to get moving. Putting on a face of surprise as the man began running towards Alia and her “Zith” slave master, she ducked and weaved to avoid their clash, just as the script told her to. The man playing the main character soon launched into a full-on scripted attack against the actress playing a zith, each player weaving and dodging in such a way it almost seemed like dance.

In a way, acting was a dance, each partner included must know exactly where to put their feet, or else they risk stepping on another’s toes. Every line memorized was spoken like a song to the actor’s dance, every fight seen was a twirl of movement at the grand finale of a show. The more she thought about it, the more Alia found connections between the two arts.
Unfortunately, the more she thought about acting and dancing, the less she paid attention to what was going on in the play, which, even with her memorized movements, was a fatal mistake.

[Alia Beaudouin]

Rule number one of the actor’s guide: Don’t take your eyes off the stage. If you have a part that speaks to the audience, that’s fine, but if you’re meant to be talking to someone onstage, talk to someone onstage. Don’t look up, don’t look down, don’t look at the audience, you look at the person talking. Alia had heard stories of the actor who took his eyes off the stage to wave at his mother- Mid-Performance. That hadn’t been a good day for the amphitheater.

The reason it was so important for Alia to stay on top of the other actor’s movements is that she was bound to them- Literally. The Stage Master had gotten this genius idea to tie Alia and the poor actress playing the Zith woman together, simulating the chains of slavery. Of course, both actresses had disagreed with this idea, but the Stage Master was quite persuasive.
That is, if threatening their jobs counted as ‘Persuasive’.

Now, Alia, being a step behind due to her thinking, stepped forward where the “Zith” woman stepped back. Luckily, Alia corrected herself and reined her thoughts in, once again concentrating on the play. Unfortunately, the actress was not so lucky. Caught off guard by the sudden set of feet tripping her up, the actress full-on fell backwards. Right onto her ‘Wings’.
Weighed down by her wings, the actress was unable to stand back up and continue the scene. Several moments of silence continued before the leading man, carrying his fake sword used for the scene, walked up to the actress, pointing his sword at her.

Alia, still frozen with the shock of massively messing up on stage, Alia stared on as the main character continued his lines - From the next scene. The leading man and leading lady weren’t supposed to meet until the third act, what was he doing?
Improvising. That was it. He realized that there was no way the leading lady could get up, and therefor he went on as if it was part of the play.

”You… Do not attack me?”
Catching on, the immobile actress playing the zith woman went on with her lines.
”You do not kill me, in return?”

It was a bit of a strange show. All the other actors onstage wore masks of shock or confusion as the lead parts continued their lines as if nothing was wrong. Alia tried to imitate their calmness, but her stomach decided to give out on her, and she turned her focus from trying to look calm to trying not to throw up. Today was going great, she had arrived late, messed up on stage, and now, she might throw up onstage. This could very well be the end of her career.

Trying to turn her attention away from her churning insides, Alia watched the improvisation going on in front of her. The two were certainly good actors, and after conversing their lines for several more chimes, the act finished and the scene change allowed everyone to reorganize their thoughts. Untying the genius idea that was her chain to the leading lady, Alia prepared herself to face the consequences of her actions. She really should have been paying more attention.

Soon, the stage master stomped towards her, and Alia braced herself for the scolding that would ensue. Alia was already preparing her apology when the stage master reached her.
And walked right by.

What was going on? Wasn’t he going to yell at her for being out of sync? It had to have been obvious that it was her that had messed up the scene, hadn’t it?
Apparently not.
The stage master marched right up to the actress playing the zith woman, and Alia could hear him scolding her for falling over. Hadn’t she practiced enough in that costume to know it inside and out? He said.
No one had seen Alia mess up. No one blamed her.
Even though she knew she should feel guilty for getting the leading actress in trouble, she was far too relieved to care. All the while, the actress was sending death stares her way.

Alia had a new enemy, but at least she got to keep her job.
Her relief only lasted ticks, though, before her stomach finally gave out, and she proceeded to retch into the nearest shrub. It was definately not the most graceful thing she had ever done, but at least it wasn’t onstage, and at least everyone was too busy to notice.
That is, except for the leading actress, who was now smiling smugly at her.
Yes, she definitely had a new enemy, but she also had her job, which might be something the actress didn’t have by the end of the night. Alia knew she was being a Shyke to the actress, but with her hurting stomach combined with her major screw-up on stage, she didn't really care.
So, as the actress gloated, Alia smiled right back.