Chapter Ninety-Four: The Bard and His Play
Dehrim also has a theater-like place, but in the open air, and the decoration is simple, just an open space with chairs and a stage.
However, if you want to watch a play here, it costs a lot, and the people who can perform here are famous theater troupes, many well-known bards have appeared on this stage, and there are many rich and aristocratic young ladies in the audience.
Especially after hearing that Halmar José was going to perform in De Cherium today, the ticket price tripled and it was sold out at once.
In order to buy a seat in the front row, Byron gave two large silver coins to the De Cherim scalpers, and only then did he get the best position to sit with some of the upper class.
Byron and the others waited there for a while, and occasionally they saw acquaintances, and most of them were women. Byron stood up and said hello one by one, after all, this is all part of the social circle of high society.
Byron even saw the young man from the Golden Hand family, but the other party immediately turned his face away and changed his seat the moment he saw them.
To this, Byron responded with a mocking smile.
At dusk, the show begins.
A gnome dressed in a beautiful clown costume walked up to the stage in a jumping fashion, did a backflip, and then stood firmly on the ground and bowed.
"Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen......."
This kind of opening line is very old-fashioned, but it has caused quite a stir. Many of the ladies applauded, not that they liked the little man so much, but mainly because the atmosphere was set off.
That's why the show has to be held now, at dusk, people's spirits are easily affected and carried away by the actors.
After the gnome's speech, the acrobats performed several shows. These medieval clowns used all sorts of funny moves and expressions to make the audience laugh. Everyone was very happy, and Byron also seemed very relaxed, chatting with the heroes next to him from time to time.
The acrobatics were followed by the musicians, whose instruments were simple and played in a very ordinary way, but which were appreciated by both the poor and the aristocracy, and applauded at the end of the music.
Eventually, the presiding dwarf invited an actor dressed in the brightly colored costume of a bard to walk to the stage with a lute in his hand, sit on a chair and begin to play.
"When the psalmist plays his harp--
Time will also be reversed -------"
In the midst of a high note, the backstage curtain began to shake, and the blue mezzanine behind the red curtain was revealed, which was very visually striking in this era.
"Myths and legends,
and will all appear before you and me----"
In the minstrels' chanting, the protagonist of the play slowly walks from behind the scenes to the stage.
What a beautiful person he was, with long brown hair and blue eyes, and the audience held their breath in the graceful stride.
Many young ladies looked at their straight-eyed companions and clenched their handkerchiefs tightly. They reminded their crush in various ways that it was a man standing in front of them...
"Alma José, the most beautiful man in the world!"
Byron's eyes were also straight, and he didn't look relaxed at all. He muttered something Manid had told him before, and Fatis rubbed his eyes vigorously.
Jamila covered her mouth in great surprise, she couldn't believe that this beautiful woman with a face that was inferior to the shame of countless girls was actually a man!
Manid smiled smugly when he saw Byron's expression.
"On the shores of Wocheze, the flags of warships flutter in the wind..."
The bard still sings the familiar melody, one of Calradia's best-known poems, which tells the story of a brave female warrior who marries a man who can overcome her, and what happens after that. At the end of the story, there is some tragedy, and this kind of warrior description is also incomprehensible to many noble daughters.
However, Alma José has done a great job of adapting the plot, and the brave female warrior becomes a noble lady, gentle and virtuous, and beautiful. Under his performance, the eyes of all the male audience in the audience shifted with the movement of his body, and those women and girls also substituted themselves into it.
But soon, the plot fluctuated. When the war came, the girl's family died in the war, and she was the only one who survived.
The maiden made a wish, and she began to abandon the rules and regulations of aristocratic maidens, and learned the swordsmanship and fighting that only men could learn, and she had scars on her body and calluses on her hands. She became an excellent warrior, and men who knew her called her "Shield Woman", which is what the Nords say about outstanding female warriors.
She made a wish that wisdom would marry a man who could overcome her, and that man would be able to avenge her.
The hero appeared at this time, handsome, dashing, and so strong, as soon as he appeared, many girls blushed. And what shocked Byron the most was that the male protagonist in this story was actually played by a real Nord female warrior. And this female warrior is even better at stage drama than in martial arts.
The warrior challenged the girl countless times, but was defeated countless times. They gradually developed feelings, and the battle changed from the fight at the beginning to a dance between lovers.
In the process, the actors did not say a word, relying entirely on the introduction of the bard. This kind of performance is extremely testing of the actors' acting skills, and only a genius like Alma José, who can take charge of the best theater company in the mainland at the age of 24, can fully control it.
His every expression was so in place. Every thought of the shield girl is displayed on his face, making the audience intoxicated.
It was an idea that Alma José came up with, which broke with the previous performances of gnomes and clowns in theater troupes, and allowed the bards who could only sing and play the piano to move and create a new form of performance.
In the kingdoms of Svadia and Rhodok, where the cultural gap has led to a spiritual pastime, this style of performance has made Alma José a superstar figure.
The plot continues to develop, and in the last battle of the hero and heroine on the beach, the shield girl's lover finally has the ability to defeat her, and she has long regarded the other party as her partner in her heart. However, when the battle was about to end, the shieldmaiden's enemies came up and attacked them with their men.
At the pinch, the warrior blocked the deadly sword for the Shieldmaiden, who, in her grief, killed her enemies, but also lost her love.
She left the land that grieved her in a small boat and with her husband's corpse.
Time passed, and years later, the Shieldmaiden had her own kingdom on another continent, and her people revered her as Valkyrie.
She has never been married in her life, and she always has that person in her heart.
Eventually, when the years passed and took her life, her people buried her and her husband together, always facing the land they loved.
When the music stops and the actors take a curtain call. The scene was silent, and it took several seconds to plant,
Then the applause rang out like thunder, and the girls smiled with tears on their faces, and all of them, rich or poor, high or low, stood up and admired the name of this genius.
"Alma Jose!"