Theater Kid is Having a Midsummer Night's Dream

[thestarknows]

⭐ Who: Junna Hoshimi... and you!
⭐ When: Opening night on the play is Friday, May 9! The play runs May 9 through May 20, but this mingle is mostly aimed at opening night. There's performances every Friday, Saturday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights.
⭐ Where: Riverside Theater
⭐ What: See a performance of I Wanna Be Your Canary, a play from 2000 that has been a hit ever since! Talk to Junna after! Enjoy a night at the theater! Culture! There are prompts within, feel free to top level and do your own thing.

A. Before the Doors Open

[The doors open for the play at 7:00 p.m. But, before that, people are free to gather in the waiting area before the performance. The cast and crew aren't here; it's the dedicated staff of the Riverwalk, who are on hand to answer questions and engage in that time-honored tradition: selling things!

For the play itself, there are small posters -- already rolled up and in a tube -- and hefty, 50 page playbooks that have information on the history of I Wanna Be Your Canary and this particular performance. There is a list of all the roles and who was cast, a list of the crew members who make it happen behind the stage, and essays by the play's director and the composer for the music.

There is also food and drink! The food is lighter fare: rice balls, some decent sushi, and sandwiches. There is also bottled water, coffee, and soft drinks... and, if you're old enough, beer, wine, and sake. They do card, though. Sorry, kids.

The doors open at 7:00 -- and the performance starts 30 minutes later. This means, at the end of things, you need to find your seat. It can't be that hard...

...right?]

B. The Play's the Thing

[Once the play starts...

It's a tragic story set in an unnamed European kingdom. Princess Cornelia is set to marry the prince of a neighboring kingdom, Schneider; however, she fell in love with a commoner, Marcus. Junna plays Marcus's cousin, Leto -- which means she's crossplaying for this one. The early scenes are mostly lovey-dovey stuff with Marcus and Cornelia, a memorable escape sequence where Leto and his friends help Cornelia escape Schneider, and then the king sends his soldiers for them.

This is the first of Junna's major scenes: a swordfight, as we find out that Leto has betrayed Marcus and his friends, and battles Marcus's best friend, Diego. With a cry of, "Think of it, Diego! If Cornelia weds Schneider, there could be peace between our kingdoms!" the two clash with swords. And while Junna's normally doing archery, she is capable of doing a good stage sword fight. There's clangs, flashes of sparks, and one part where Diego's sleeve is torn. Leto is ultimately forced back.

This lets the king's soldiers capture Cornelia. Marcus, Diego, and their other friends decide to mount a desperate rescue. This leads to the second of Junna's major scenes:

She comes before King Leo, and declares her intention: "Worry not, your majesty! I will be sure that Cornelia marries Prince Schneider. You have my word."

"Your word!" the king replies, incredulously. And then Leto's expression falls. "And how much is that word worth, when you would betray your dear cousin?"

"Your majesty! I--I merely sought a lasting peace, between our two kingdoms!"

"I've no use for a traitor!"

And then a sword gets plunged into Leto's back by a soldier -- well, okay, actually cleverly underneath her armpit, with Junna using some stage positioning to just make it look like she got run through. Junna stumbles forward, stage blood staining her dark blue coat, and a bit of it running out of the corner of her mouth (by virtue of biting down on a pill). "Ah... Marcus, I wronged you to no end..." she stammers out, before she crumples to the ground lifelessly.

The rest of the play is a tragedy. Marcus and his friends rush the king to rescue Cornelia. The king's soldiers overpower his friends, and the king rushes for Marcus. Cornelia leaps between them, and dies on her father's sword. And then the curtain falls... but when it rises, the cast is all there -- Junna included -- and takes a bow.

And then, the applause starts!]

C. Meet the Cast and Mingle!

[After everyone's left their seats, the theater's reception area is open for another hour. There is still a bar -- serving the same drinks as before, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. There is also ice cream that you can buy, in little one-person serving sizes with those cheap wooden spoons that are sort of up to the task. It's about one scoop's worth, with a few different flavors available. No other food, though.

There is also the same merchandise available. Of course, the lines are quite long...

The cast arrives after about ten minutes. They're mingling and chatting with audience members -- and signing both posters and playbooks!]

Comments

QUESTIONS

[thestarknows]

Let me know if you have any questions!!

open!

[thestarknows]

1. Post-Performance Mingling

[Along with the rest of her fellow performers... Junna has come out to do the meet and greet!

She's positively glowing -- this is the accomplishment of a lifelong goal, after all -- and that's rather in contrast to her outfit. She has a dark blue coat, with gold epaulets on, that's a very 17th century style. She has a short red cape, a white-and-black shirt underneath it, and her purple hair is pinned up to make it look short. She also has shiny boots and gloves on. And, notably, there's stage blood splashed across both the back and front of her coat from the death scene.

But, most notably, she wore contacts for the play. Today, Junna has no glasses.

It's easy enough to approach her -- though, as one of the principal villains of the play, there's sometimes a line. She's signing autographs for people, speaking with them happily, and occasionally reciting lines. The two most popular are "Ah... Marcus, I wronged you to no end..." and "Come, Diego, I will show you no quarter!"

Come say hi!]

2. End of the Night (NOTE: open but limiting this to two responses)

[At the top of the hour, Riverwalk staff are starting to urge people out. But, that's more of a slow process and a gentle guiding rather than kicking everyone out. So there is a chance to linger for last-minute merchandise, ice cream, or drinks.

The last people that Junna is talking to aren't familiar sights in Yumemigaoka: a middle-aged man with purple hair like Junna's and a woman with black hair and glasses. They're chatting with her; Junna has her hair down, now, having let it down partway through the evening. A few things can be heard from the conversation if someone's nearby, though it's kept reasonably quiet:

"Great job, dear."
"I can't say I expected to see my daughter get skewered, though!"
"I can tell you put a lot of work into this."

There's some jokes and back-and-forth, before Junna's father says: "Anyways, I should let you get changed. We can meet out front. Maybe see if Lisa-chan wants to join us for coffee?"

Junna nods yes -- and her parents are off. But she's standing there for a little while after, looking at them as they head out. She looks distracted, and overwhelmed, but... not in a bad way.]

[greaterspeed]

i. Pre-Show

[Nikki is here because Aleena is 100% behind supporting local arts and performances. She'd even put up some posters in front of Hybrid Colours as a show of support before buying tickets. Where does she get the money? Would you kids like to know?

Bottom line is, Nikki's here on opening night, munching on a jelly donut tuna mayo rice ball and looking... Bright eyed and curious?! Is he actually interested in the play?? If he notices you staring too long though-]

... Yo! Have you seen this play before?

ii. wildcard

[lol no, he won't cause a stink during a performance. He respects artists! HMU if you want something though]