You take your place in the wings. You can see Cenone in his seat, and a packed house waiting eagerly for your latest production.
It's hard to breathe, as if you're already under water. You take a shuddering breath and listen to the musicians playing the fanfare that heralds the doomed king's entrance onto the stage.
The king begins a speech about the dark omens that have been seen in the city, dark omens that he half welcomes because of his wild grief over his wife's recent death. The first act passes, introducing two pairs of lovers, a heroic father protecting his pregnant wife and their several small children (played by those of Matty's pages who Nichol trusted to remember lines like "Papa! Help!"), and a pair of servants with a comically overloaded cart.