Chapter – 24
I held a glass of champagne and stood at the edge of the banquet hall, watching the stage and the backs of the audience facing it.
As Prince Edward stepped onto the stage, the audience’s backs naturally turned towards it.
Everyone was immersed in this play.
Even though the beginning was quite complex and improvisational, people were quickly accepting it.
‘This is the power of acting.’
For this play, I wanted to show the power of acting more than anything.
The medium where an actor can shine the most is not film or drama, but theater.
The reason is that on stage, acting can replace everything.
The set, props, extra actors, the camera’s mise-en-scène, the scope of the stage—all of it is determined by the actor’s performance.
To achieve this, I used a technique where the audience seating area becomes part of the stage.
The actor begins their performance from the audience seats, that is, from within this banquet hall.
Without any preparatory signal that the play is about to start, they suddenly begin reciting their lines right next to the audience.
Of course, this is a rather risky attempt.
Some people might not understand the early content, and the initial atmosphere could be broken by those who aren’t immersed.
However, if the acting is good, it’s also an attempt that can make people quickly and easily get sucked into the play.
Why are people more sensitive to an actor’s performance in a small theater than in a large one?
It’s because they can hear everything, from the actor’s blinking to their breathing, so they have no choice but to focus more.
But this time, the performance starts right beside them.
If Leo’s acting reached the level I desired, it could captivate even those who were prejudiced against ‘Louisa’s play’ in an instant.
But inwardly, I thought it would be difficult for Leo to deliver a performance that could seize the atmosphere of the banquet hall.
That’s why I gave up on immersion in the very beginning and quickly introduced the ‘beggar’.
Because what I had hoped for was ‘Benvolio’.
However—.
‘The Prince is putting on a good show…?’
I was startled seeing Leo in the early part.
Nobility overflowed from his fingertips and the tips of his toes, and his eyes were vividly alive.
Even the arrogance inherent in his tone, characteristic of someone who had lived their whole life as a noble bloodline.
‘He brought it out.’
I felt goosebumps all over my body at the figure of the Prince that Leo had conjured.
I thought my expectation that Leo would bring out this side today might have been premature. But on the other hand, I wanted to believe in Leo.
Thinking rationally, that cunning guy had no reason to trust me.
There was no reason for him to side with my play, even revealing his true self.
‘You like it too, don’t you.’
Even so, at that moment, I thought I saw Leo’s eyes waver. I too felt him strangely agitated.
And the reason for that agitation was perhaps not simply a desire to control others, but—
‘A desire to become free.’
Right now, at this moment, I felt a sense of liberation emanating from Leo.
The freedom to reveal his true self, his raw emotions.
Perhaps that guy was feeling it for the first time in nine years.
‘Of course, there are probably other reasons too.’
I witnessed all the audience being drawn into the play along with Leo’s immersion.
As everyone’s backs tensed up, and the people who had been chattering amongst themselves, confused about whether it was a play or not, soon fell silent, I felt a thrilling sensation.
Right now, Leo was creating the stage with his acting. He was creating the props, he was creating the props within the play, and he was even using the audience as his counterpart actors.
He was carrying the play solely with his acting.
Ordinary people might not realize it.
When people watch a play, they don’t distinguish between the acting, the stage setup, the script, and such elements.
But anyone who has ever been on a theater stage even once can tell.
All of this comes from perfectly directed acting.
Especially something like this.
On stage, the Prince and the beggar meet.
As soon as they see each other, both their eyes widen.
“……!”
“……!”
The two startle and step back.
Then, unable to take their eyes off each other, they raise their hands.
When the Prince raises his right hand, the beggar raises his left. When the Prince blinks, the beggar blinks too.
Watching the two of them match perfectly, I smiled inwardly.
“There is someone who looks exactly like me.”
“There is someone who looks exactly like me.”
The moment their voices rang out simultaneously, some of the audience in front of me expressed surprise.
“They don’t look alike at all, but they’re alike.”
“I guess the setting is that the two look identical.”
From the murmuring, I could tell people had caught on.
Everyone now understood the setting that these two actors, who in reality look completely different, are supposed to look alike in the play.
In the novel <The Prince and the Pauper>, the Prince and the Pauper are so alike that people around them cannot tell them apart.
Because of this setting, in films or dramas, this part is directed by CGI-ing the same actor together, or having one actor play both roles.
But in theater, this is impossible.
If one actor plays both roles, it becomes ambiguous to stage the scene where they meet.
Then, there’s the method of casting look-alike actors, or sibling actors—
‘Where would you find someone who looks like Leo?’
That couldn’t be possible. Leo is uniquely handsome. His face itself is like a seal, so a similar appearance couldn’t possibly exist within this worldview.
Then, only one method remained.
‘Make the audience understand this setting through acting.’
Of course, for the visual aspects, we matched them to some extent by dyeing the hair color and using the ‘eye color changing solution’ that Rudy brought for the eye color.
But more than that, what we carefully worked on was meticulously matching the tone and manner of the acting, and making them move like mirrors while looking at each other in this scene.
It’s not about measuring the angle of the arms or the timing like a precise group dance.
‘Think that you have truly become each other. Move with the feeling of looking into a mirror. Concentrate, paying attention to even a single breath. Then you’ll know. Even before that person moves their head a little, the air around them is bound to change.’
Matching the acting.
‘If you want, you can even ad-lib.’
‘What’s ad-lib?’
‘…Improvised acting. You do your part as the Prince. The beggar will follow the Prince’s lead.’
I directed them like that, but I didn’t have much expectation.
Because I didn’t think Leo would bring out his Prince.
But Leo was expressing the Prince in his own way, and Benvolio was breathlessly keeping up with him.
I was on the verge of letting out a hollow laugh.
‘This is fun.’
If I were in the audience, I’d be torn over which of the two’s charm to fall for.
All except for one audience member.
‘Marquess Barbidge.’
I had been checking his location since earlier.
The way I recognized him was very simple.
‘…The heroine came with him.’
Elena Barbidge was standing with her father.
Curly blond hair, almost silver.
Her eyebrow color was light, and her iris color was light too, giving her a fairy-like appearance.
Elena Barbidge looked exactly like her illustration.
So that’s what the heroine’s face looks like.
I thought Louisa’s face was beautiful enough, but honestly, it perfectly fits the villainess image, so her spectrum is somewhat narrow.
But Elena Barbidge has a face that makes people feel sad when she’s sad, and happy when she’s happy.
The face of a protagonist.
I watched her face with considerable admiration.
‘She entered high society earlier than expected.’
Elena Barbidge, the beloved legitimate daughter of Marquess Gallog Barbidge, was supposed to set foot in high society for the first time only the year after next.
So I didn’t think Elena would be here already—
‘She’s completely mesmerized, isn’t she?’
I felt somewhat perplexed seeing Elena, who couldn’t take her eyes off Leo.
I hadn’t planned to bring these two together this quickly.
If Elena were to meet me, who acts as Leo’s master, it was clear she wouldn’t have a good impression.
‘In trying to help the future Emperor, I’ll end up being disliked by the future Empress.’
With a bitter feeling, I examined the face of Gallog Barbidge next to her.
His completely hardened face.
‘As expected! He recognized Leo.’
