FYOP/Scenario Chamber/A Night at the Opera/0001

You select the harlequin costume – an elegant onesie covered in colourful geometric patterns, sporting a small ruff; a slightly floppy jester’s cap; and a flattened bat. Quickly unbuttoning the onesie, you put it on hastily, fastening the cap over your head without letting go of the slapstick.

Not a moment too soon. The overture finishes with a triumphant series of chords to thunderous applause, and the curtail majestically swishes open, bathing you in bright stage lights.

Blinking as your eyes adjust to the light, you can tell that you are standing in the centre upstage. All of a sudden you hear loud whirring all around you as a number of brightly dressed figures step,– some more stiffly than others,– onto the stage. You notice that all of them, even those dressed in traditionally male costumes, are women,– all mechanical, of course.

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