(Lylia makes her way to the stage.)
(Lylia waits a moment for the audience to settle, then stands at center stage, her hands folded before her. She gazes dispassionately into the audience and begins to talk in a plodding, declarative tone.)
Lylia drones, "There once was a powerful woman. She had many friends and enemies. She was not always able to tell them apart."
Lylia blandly continues, "When she found them, she could not take revenge on her rivals. She found a way to do both."
Lylia dryly observes, "Here I am on a stage, and yet there is no drama in my words. I have told you just about everything that happens but shown you nothing."
Lylia says, "I shall remedy that, if you forgive my taking a few bites out of the scenery."
Lylia flashes a quick grin.
(Lylia's eyes briefly open wide before she narrows them to suspicious slits. The ragged breath she draws finds voice in a stifled cry of rage. Her hands, previously at her sides, now clutch fitfully at the fabric of her gown.)
Lylia paces back and forth, muttering something about perfidy and dishonor.
Lylia seethes, "If one of them has cost me Riario's share, the wretch is as good as dead." Her voice rises to a harpy's shriek on the next word. "Dead! The proscription can wither, even the Patriarch would surely forgive -"
Lylia bites her lip.
(Lylia stops herself from finishing a sentence that, if overheard, could get her imprisoned. She shakes her head as if to clear it and continues in a more measured tone.)
Lylia asks, "No, Caesilda. Anger is a beast that serves another master no matter how you call it to heel." Her feet fall heavily on the floorboards as she paces, still muttering. "The lies, though. The calumny. How am I not to strike them?"
Lylia gives a sigh of disgust.
Lylia hisses, "All the honey they drop from their smiling lips, and it is only to disguise the taste of their own rot!"
(Lylia slows her pacing and looks pensive as she seems to consider her words, a dawning idea suffusing her features with serenity and smoothing her drawn brow.)
Lylia smiles slightly as she talks aloud to herself, her expression widening into a toothy grin.
Lylia muses, "Oh, but the same honey can grace my table. The proscription may bind my hands, but it does not bind another's, should he wrap it around his own throat...now, where did I leave that cloak?"
Amused, Lylia bows slightly and offers brief acknowledgement by inclining her head.
Lylia admits, "Although I do not do it justice, that is part of a monologue from 'Writ in Crimson Shadow,' a sprawling play by Ysarith Gavrelle Faendryl. Should you stay with us after this presentation, you will see a good bit more of it."
Lylia adds, "With some far more talented players, I might add."
Lylia says, "But I wished to make clear the difference between showing and telling, between the mere recitation of facts and the passion of theater."
Lylia explains, "Theater is perhaps the oldest art, so old that it precedes any written folios or operatic enchiridia. The desire to demonstrate rather than merely tell - to create a story, not merely a recite a few words - is innate in us all, and certainly it is true of the Faendryl."
Lylia says, "To understand Faendryl performing arts requires a brief look at its deep history. In the case of any Elven culture, that may be very deep indeed."
Lylia explains, "We know this because we have seen carved masks ancient even to us, some still echoing with a ghost of song about their origins. It is impossible to know precisely when theater arose, but we can trace the lineage of Faendryl theatrical art over the past few millennia and see how it has diverged from classical Elven theater."
Lylia says, "Just as Loenthran plays often involve bursting into song and Ta'Vaalor loves a stirring historical tale, Faendryl playwrights captivated audiences with political intrigues and magical themes. This was true even before the exile of our House."
Lylia cautions, "This is not to say that each Elven House produced only one genre, nor that there was no blending of styles and innovations among them."
Lylia offhandedly says, "So many make the mistake of believing Elves of different locales are as different as cheese and chocolate instead of a common race with many cultures."
(Lylia gives a little shake of her head and a skyward roll of her eyes to illustrate her scorn for this perspective.)
Ysharra says, "Though all three are quite delicious."
Lylia says, "At any rate, three distinctive elements of this early Faendryl theater set it apart from that of the other Houses." She ticks them off on her gloved fingers as she talks. "Spectacle, complexity, and stylized characters."
Lylia says, "Speaking of threes."
Lylia says, "With the resources of a large nation of Elves at its disposal, Old Ta'Faendryl was host to some spectacular productions to enhance the realism of the productions even as the actors' roles were mannered and stylized, their true expressions hidden behind masks."
Toxyrox says, "Still are."
Lylia continues, "Spectacle is delightful, but it needs something more to sustain it. Complexity tends to hold our attention more than a single simple plot line winding through a given play, and almost every modern Faendryl production has at least two ancillary stories along with the main one."
Asylum says, "Leave no angle unconsidered."
Lylia says, "The play you see tonight, partial though it is, has a romance sub-plot that you will glimpse."
Lylia cautions, "Do recall, though, that tonight's play has been pared down from a much longer and more detailed production. It should not be construed as representative in all ways of Faendryl theater, although it is as close as an above-ground theater without augmented magic can be."
Lylia says, "Now, where was I...ah, yes. Masks."
Lylia says, "Stylized archetypes rather than well-rounded characters were the norm in early Faendryl theater, and indeed in most Elven theater."
Lylia says, "While other traditions used them to assist with telling a more dramatic tale, in Faendryl theater, they wholly personified certain archetypal characters."
Lylia explains, "The players were not merely donning the masks as much as...becoming these larger-than-life figures."
Lylia says, "Just as you are innately familiar with the gods and their spheres of influence, their personalities, and their appearance, so early Faendryl audiences knew the characters on stage by certain traits, movements, songs, and of course masks."
Lylia explains, "For example, the young lovers traditionally had masks that were the obverse of one another in hue, matched but complementary. The wealthy merchant bore gold leaf on a large and heavy mask, while the sorcerer was traditionally veiled."
Lylia smiles wryly.
Lylia confesses, "I could go on about such familiar personas and how they are still visible in altered forms in modern Faendryl theater, but it would be another case of telling instead of showing."
Lylia says, "Do as Lylia says, not as she does, Lylia."
Lylia smirks as a haughty expression flits across her face.
Lylia says, "Instead, let us look at the plays in which those archetypes found themselves. Faendryl theater was to undergo great changes after the cataclysmic events at Maelshyve and and even more convulsive transformation with our exile."
Lylia says, "You may have heard me speak of that time of upheaval in other contexts, and it affected the performing arts as well. Exile brought transfiguration. Gone were the gilded and painted masks, the silken pavilions, the starry amphitheaters."
Lylia hollowly says, "All stripped away, all left by the long cruel road..."
(Lylia takes a moment to look out at the audience, her gaze lingering here and there on a familiar face. When she speaks again, her voice is soft but clear.)
Lylia says, "...Except for the stories."
Lylia smiles.
Lylia says, "We take those wherever we wish."
Lylia says, "They lived on and became the foundation for the flourishing love of performance in New Ta'Faendryl. Gone were the stylized masks, replaced with a new realism and regard for the actors."
Lylia continues, "Even set design changed, embracing painted surfaces that could achieve the illusion of depth, particularly with magically augmented senses."
Lylia says, "Ah, yes -- magic! A key element that became the distinctive feature of Faendryl theater."
Lylia says, "Grand subterranean halls host operas, stage plays, and dance in amphitheaters designed to allow anyone in the audience to hear a whisper from the stage. They are built to complement the magical nature of performances, too."
Atlevro appreciatively whispers aloud, "Sorcery."
(Lylia gestures broadly, sweeping her arms together.)
Lylia says, "They are all of a piece, you see. One leaning on the other."
Lylia explains, "What you see on stage is only a portion of what goes on in a state of the art Faendryl performance. Demons can assist with special effects of various sorts. Magic enhances plays and operas, sometimes subtly and sometimes boldly."
Lylia admits, "I do not care for the flashier productions. The magic should never overwhelm the production, I feel, nor take away from the actors' performances with illusory explosions and chase scenes through markets crowded with orange carts."
Lylia says, "...and why is it always orange carts? We do not have that many fruit vendors that they are all at risk of a chase breaking out."
Lylia looks thoughtful for a moment, then shrugs.
Lylia says, "Bit of a digression there; forgive me."
Lylia airily waves a gloved hand.
Lylia says, "You can see a magnificent and historically important example of a lorgnette made for Faendryl operas and plays in the Museum Alerreth. These elegant opera glasses may have belonged to Chesylcha Sukari Faendryl herself."
Lylia says, "We are rather too far west to admire them, but they are worth the trip."
Lylia adds, "They resonate to a bard's probing voice, which draws out images of an opera set against the backdrop of Rhoska-Tor. The use of other languages in the production was both instructive and aesthetically pleasing, allowing the audience to learn as they were entertained."
Lylia says, "You may be surprised, and the linguists among us interested, to hear that not all Faendryl performances are solely in Faendryl or so-called Dark Elven tongues."
Lylia says, "It is important in any society built even partially on trade to have a common language with would-be traders."
Lylia says, "Another element of modern Faendryl theater is the participatory nature of it. Very often, productions will enhance the action on the stage with parallel activities in the audience, such as breezes stirring the air in the audience when a tempest takes place on the stage."
Lylia adds, "Those of you who stay for tonight's production will see how a modern play includes the audience. While we cannot present the full Faendryl experience, we can try for a reasonable facsimile."
Lylia says, "Now, without spoiling your appetite for tonight's play, I would like to know if you have any questions for me, or comments. Those of us who have attended other operas or plays might want to recount their experiences."
Ysharra says, "Have the Summoners ever used their..."
Ysharra says, "Guests..."
Ysharra says, "Invited guests from beyond."
Ysharra asks, "As dressing for the scene?"
Ysharra asks, "Or even participants in the production?"
Lylia says, "Yes, some phantasmagorical elements are set off perfectly with a few growling aishan or soaring verlok'asha."
Lylia says, "There are, of course, some imps that can be trained to move simple scenery, but they are not always reliable stage-hands."
Asylum says, "We sometimes put them in the chorus. It's most effective to get a little exposition from an Igaesha."
Lylia says, "Theater students are more biddable."
Asylum asks, "Do you have a favorite genre?"
Lylia exclaims, "Oh, a question about me, the kind I find most fascinating!"
Lylia laughs!
Ysharra says, "At a guess, the revenge fantasies."
Lylia says, "I have eclectic tastes, but I prefer dark fantasies and historical plays."
Lylia says, "Revenge fantasies are indeed often dark."
Speaking to Lylia, Asylum says, "And maybe a few musicals, our perhaps rarest offerings."
Lylia says, "I enjoy opera, which is a musical play of a sort, but I confess I do not know what to make of the plays in which people suddenly decide to start trilling at one another."
Jisandra murmurs, "What? I find those terribly realistic."
Lylia says, "The distinctions between types of performing arts are a bit more fluid, I find, in New Ta'Faendryl than in other places I have visited."
Asylum says, "I bet some can be quite dramatic- with the right music, of course."
Speaking to Jisandra, Atlevro agrees, "Musicals may be my favorite, madame."
Jisandra adds, "Life could use a few more grand musical numbers interspersed between interactions."
Lylia quips, "Oh, I hate it that you are all saying this; it means we may have to work on translating a musical next."
Toxyrox exclaims, "Oh no, not a musical!"
Jisandra delightedly exclaims, "Oh, yay, a musical!"
You say, "The Laurentiu faction, spontaneously breaking out into song."
Lylia asks, "Who knew we had so many lovers of musical theater among us?"
Monza says, "Guilty."
Jisandra lightly says, "Plus, musical numbers loan themselves to dance routines."
Tikba politely says, "It sounds very eventful."
Emperia says, "I rarely attended any such performances. Perhaps just two or three..."
Lylia asks, "Speaking of which, I should give everyone a few moments to relax and clear their ears of my dulcet tones before hearing them again in...hmm, about twenty minutes?"
Lylia warmly says, "I want to thank all of you who took the time to be here tonight and explore a bit about Faendryl theater with me. I hope you will stay for the production itself."