Chapter 6: The Theater Room

Chapter 6: The Theater Room

(Jay Dee, June 1st, 2011)

It is not uncommon for certain Victorian Manors to have a room set aside for theatrical presentations, especially when entertaining guests or if the house boasts many residents. This is one such room.

When you walk into the room, you see the stage, where you may watch the players perform

No, you are the stage and the players watch you.5

in a delightful variety of costumes and masks

The only masks are the human faces, underneath them lies something alien and unspeakable…6

and put on masterfully choreographed displays of dancing and music.

Or is it you who is dancing for them?

And of course, there are performances of plays both classical and modern

5 In comments: Jay Dee: “I was channeling Doctor Who with all my might, and I’m delighted that it came through!” Wednesday: “Ooh I love how this is written. Like the whispers of the Silence. Did someone say something? I don’t remember…”

In Doctor Who, the Silence are a church of inhuman beings secretly sharing Earth with humanity, whose existence humans can only remember when they are looking at them.

6 In comments: Jeanne Mornignstar: “A wonderfully creepy piece. I wonder if they perform The King in Yellow?”

Although R. L. Chamber’s fictional King in Yellow play, from the 1895 anthology of the same name, involves an eldritch entity believed to wear a mask, the dramatic reveal is actually that the ‘mask’ is its real face. The scenario devised by Dee is more reminiscent of H. P. Lovecraft’s The Whisperer in Darkness, where the inhuman entity Nyarlathotep, a dark emissary of alien gods, disguises himself as a human cultist by means of “the waxen mask and the robes that hide”.

Every story ends in tragedy and despair.

always offered to all, free of charge!

That’s because they have already taken what they need from you7

Better yet, you can join the show as a new member!

After all, the troupe is always looking for fresh blood!

7 In contrast to the other interjections from the ‘voice’, this statement lacks final punctuation in the text. 20