a tiny little interlude. enjoy. :)
Everyone was familiar with the Bard of Chandrila: the comedies, the tragedies, the histories, the sonnets. For centuries students from schools and academies all over the galaxy had been forced to read and discuss and watch holos of famous performances. Chandrila had an academy specifically devoted to studying his works. It was supposedly in the exact spot where the original theater to perform the Bard's works had been located. The true identity of the Bard might still be a mystery, his species, his planet of origin, even if he was actually a he, but his plays were legendary.
So, the decision to perform a play by the Bard of Chandrila for their graduation year production had been an easy one. The difficult part had been deciding which of the Bard's plays to perform.
Soniee's vote had been for one of the comedies, a tale about some tricky little Force users who's improper use of their powers lead to the confusion of pairs of lovers who are wondering through the forests of Endor. It had a happy ending in which all of the pairs are sorted out as they should be and they all believe they've just shared some delightful spice induced dream.
She was looking forward to using her talents for some special effects and pyrotechnics (and maybe a little of her own Force magic) for the fairies' hijinks. And she was just fine with the traditional practice of only male actors playing all the parts. She was much more comfortable backstage than on it.
She had been overruled, however, when the rest of the class chose a tragedy. There was a little sword fighting and a ghost but mostly soliloquies and drama. Korkie had been cast as the Prince of Alderaan, a tragic character who's dead father comes to him to demand vengeance for his murder. The queen, played by Lagos, acts the perfect grieving widow for the visiting royal family from Onderon who come to pay their respects.
Soniee complains that it's type casting when she's forced into the role of the Onderonian princess but at least she doesn't have as many lines as Lagos and she gets to kiss Korkie in Act Two. Amis who is cast as her protective elder brother tells her that it's not really type casting because the princess isn't really Onderonian at all, she was adopted. To which Soniee replies, "So was I." And Lagos counters, "Well at least you and Korkie weren't twins separated at birth. At least we don't think so..."
Because, well, that's how the play goes. The Queen of Alderaan had been plotting her husband's death for ages. When she got pregnant with the twins she knew she couldn't keep both of them safe from the king but she could convince him that she had only had one child, the son he had always wanted and she sent the baby girl away. Upon the king's death she believes she can safely bring her daughter back but before all is revealed, the twins fall in love. The Prince of Alderaan believing he's doing the will of his father's ghost, murders the king of Onderon. And then with the death of her adopted father and the news that her lover is really her twin brother, the princess of Onderon goes mad and throws herself off a balcony.
That at least will require a bit of special effects magic. Soniee will actually get to jump dramatically off a balcony for the scene, wearing a jetpack so she can swoop off backstage after she's beyond the view of the audience. After that Korkie and Amis get to have an epic saber battle and in the end no one survives. Heartwarming.
Soniee is terrified the night of the performance. She tries to take her mind off things by taking her holo cam around to all of her fellow cadets interviewing them and taking pix so they can all remember this event as one of the last projects they will all experience together before they graduate. She's recording when the Duchess comes backstage to tell them all to break a leg.
"Can't you put that thing down?" Korkie grins at her.
"No I'll get too nervous and I want to make sure to have a recording so we can all remember."
Korkie takes the cam and hands it to the Duchess. "Here, Auntie Satine can record the whole thing and you'll be fine." He gives Soniee a quick kiss and then forces her to face the cam that the Duchess is now pointing at the both of them. "Isn't she beautiful, Auntie? Isn't she going to steal the show?"
The Duchess laughs. "Just have fun Soniee. I didn't get to be a part of my graduation year production and I've always wished I could have."
"I'll try, Your Grace." Soniee smiles nervously.
Satine records the entire production from the front row. She laughs and cheers and gasps in all the right places and she even whistles loudly when the lovers kiss. And it was her voice that that Obi-wan heard over all of the lines of the actors when he stumbled upon the recording while re-watching the holos that Soniee had played for the council from her display visor.