There are many people in the lobby of the theater. After all, today is the premiere of "The Dagger and the Sheath" in the province of Nia. In addition to the audience waiting for the opening, there are also many reporters here.
Nearly two hundred people were waiting in the brightly lit theater lobby. Hesta looked around. Everyone here was wearing suits and dresses, and the children were also dressed in costumes. It seemed that they were all families attending.
There are lounges on both sides of the lobby, but people prefer to stand near the bar with a glass of wine and chat.
Hesta looked at the clock and saw that there were still 35 minutes until the performance officially started.
After showing their tickets to the ticket inspector, a waiter came forward to guide them and led them along the grand staircase of the theater towards the boxes on the second floor - after all, what they got in their hands were free tickets from Ava Morgan. It was impossible to arrange for Ava to sit in the general auditorium.
"Do you two want to go directly to the box and sit down, or go to the wine hall to have a drink first?"
"Go to the bar." Valenti replied.
Hesta glanced at Valenti and whispered, "Didn't Miss Valenti have enough to eat just now?"
"I'm full already," Valenti smiled, "but I haven't been here before... Since I can walk around, why not?"
They stepped on the red carpet and walked along the bright aisle towards the east side of the theater. When the waiter opened the heavy wooden door for her, a dozen eyes were projected from the wine hall at the same time.
As they looked at Hesta, Hesta looked at them.
This wine hall is much emptier than the lobby downstairs, and the people here are not as well-dressed as those downstairs. Compared to the elegant cufflinks and ties of everyone downstairs, Hestad saw several people here. Wearing light floral shirts under their suits, not only that, but some of them were wearing jeans and pointed shoes - as if they had just come out of a bar.
Valenti greeted the others with friendly eyes, and Hesta followed her silently.
The two found a seat and sat down. Valenti ordered a glass of sherry, while Hesta ordered nothing. She listened to the people around her chatting. These people were talking about many and complicated topics, such as the next one. The Antique Biennale in the core city in January, the charity reception at the Museum in the Third District at the end of the year...etc.
The men exchanged messages, sometimes their voices suddenly trailing off and bursting into high-pitched laughter.
Hesta had a strange feeling from the moment she entered the house. It wasn't until she sat down by the window and looked at the entire house that she understood where the feeling came from.
There are no women in this room.
This is a very obvious fact, but it is not a detail that can be noticed immediately, because although there are no women here, there are women everywhere - the fountain stone statue in the corner is a woman holding a clay pot, and the sculptures on the pillars are It is a fairy in a light veil, and on the wall diagonally opposite Hesta, there are several portraits of dignified ladies.
There are also some small words under their portraits, which probably record which lady donated what precious gift to the theater in what year and month.
Then, the door opened again from the outside, and two young girls wearing white gloves and light blue gauze hats stood at the door. The two looked a little timid. They did not enter the house immediately, but looked around the house first. The people inside--until their eyes glanced at Valenti and Hesta, the expressions of the two girls relaxed a little, and they walked to the bar with quiet steps, and quietly ordered a glass of wine each.
At 6:50, the waiter re-entered the room and informed everyone that the musical was about to begin. Only then did people leave the wine hall intermittently and go to their own boxes.
Hesta had previously wondered whether the men chatting in the wine hall came alone without their families, but when she and Valenti sat in their box, she immediately understood——
No, there were also women and children sitting in the seats opposite. Even across the entire theater, Hestad could see the light reflected from the jewelry on their necks or wrists. When they stood up to greet their husbands who had just entered the box, their slender waists wrapped in silk dresses swayed as gracefully as willow branches.
These ladies were probably the most exquisitely dressed guests tonight, but for some reason, when Hestad was in this gorgeous theater, she felt as if she had not walked out of the wine hall.
——There are women everywhere here, but there seem to be few women at all.
Conversations and laughter from far and near merged into a humming noise. Hesta looked up at the brightest golden chandelier in the center of the theater's ceiling with a dull expression.
Suddenly, all the lights in the theater went out with a sigh, dark blue light and fog floated on the stage, a harp was playing in the distance, and the cold female harmony rose like the fog on the stage, slowly, poignantly,
A beam of cold white light suddenly hit the center of the stage. A man in ragged clothes stood in the middle, and the sound of the harp sounded again at this moment.
The man slowly raised his hand and started singing from a low and soft bass:
Today’s story is a hymn about love
Also about how justice defeats ugliness
On how power and oppression inspire change
We swans who play with rhymes and images
Fortunately - based on a little speculation
Carefully crafting this magnificent history
Dear viewers, please don’t ask too many questions about why.
I only know
The story takes place during the Great Zhou Dynasty in the Bronze Age.
At that time, distant Pingjing
A young new king has just ascended the throne
A turbulent dynasty is in ruins and waiting to be reborn.
The loyal guards obeyed orders
But it is difficult to defeat the fierce iron cavalry of the Northern Barbarians——
View from both ends to the banks of the Lore River
The name of Sky Khan Arslan resounds throughout the north
Dear viewers, please don’t ask too many questions about why.
I only know
On a cold morning, the sky and earth were awakened by wind and snow
A failed usurper fled into the northern barbarian camp
He brings a series of conspiracies and conspiracies
Vows to wash away all the shame he suffered in the past
Dear viewers, please don’t ask too many questions about why.
I only know
They are all determined to leave their own achievements in the world
A cruel era unfolds like a scroll
How many ordinary people’s tragic songs of love and hate are wrapped up in this?
Dear viewers, please don’t ask too many questions about why.
I only know
A new desire has awakened
History is rushing towards her eternal light
Day is in front of me, night is behind me
The sky is above my head, and the waves are under my feet...
Hesta listened quietly, she leaned towards Valenti, "Who is this from the play?"
"Oh, this is a bard from the Bronze Age in District 14," Valenti replied in a low voice. "It is said that he was the first to write down the story of "The Dagger and the Sheath", so he not only has himself in this play The character will also serve as the narrator’s aria and part of the male protagonist’s voice.”
