FYOP/Scenario Chamber/A Night at the Opera/0217
The pillars of light closest to the dais go out with a loud, ominous snap that echoes around the stage. From the orchestra, the strings send up thin quavers that tremble in the air as pairs of light go out, first from the back of the stage, then slowly towards where you and Pamina are standing. The last pair of lights goes out and suddenly the stage is plunged into blackness. The feeling of something touching your hand makes you jump, until you realize it is Pamina’s hand which laces its fingers over yours in a gesture intended to reassure. You give her hand a gentle squeeze, only to have her abruptly pulled from you, her voice giving a sudden cry.
The mechanical cacophony before you entered the temple starts up again, this time much louder – there is no backdrop to get in the way of the noise this time. Again, the sound of rollers and motors filled the air, along with the sounds of metal scraping on metal and heavy clicks as objects are joined together or fall into place. The lights overhead flicker on, if barely. The half-light brightens just enough to see again with dramatic slowness.
What little that can be seen of the temple interior has been wholly transformed. Instead of the heavy faux-sandstone plinths and the raised altar, a raised runway now leads towards the back of the temple, which remains wreathed in shadow. On either side of the runway, the ground is has been lowered to reveal a pit whose depths are hidden by the cold smoke being spewed out by unseen but audibly hissing smoke generators.
Sarastra strides to you, her flowing white robes stirring the smoke around her. She sings to you in a reverberant alto, “If your love is true, it will endure in the Trial of Silence. Be steadfast, patient, and silent!” She departs, repeating the refrain, “Be steadfast, patient, and silent!”
From the shadows of the temple, you hear Pamina’s frightened voice sing out, “My love! My love! I am lost!”