Ensign Lyra Voss - The Treacherous Gates of Gre’thor
Sarah Terry
((Tang Te Voc Theatre, Qo'noS District - Starbase 118))
There was nothing in the world like walking into a theatre. It didn’t matter where it was, its size, how new or old, shabby or ornate - it was a place of hushed wonder and held breath. Lyra had been maybe five or six the first time she remembered visiting a theatre, and the experience had dazzled her. For some reason, it had just been her and her father - a rare treat in and of itself in a large and growing family - and she was wearing her favorite blue dress with tiny silver sequins sown into it like a swirl of snowflakes. They’d sat right in the front row, and when the lights came up on the stage, it was like a new world opening in front of her. She remembered seeing her mother appear, looking for all the world like something out of a fairy tale, and how she’d felt the strangest double vision as she realized that her mother, on that stage, could be anyone she wanted to be and the audience would believe her.
It was a power that almost frightened her. As if, for the duration of the show, her mother was gone, replaced, changed. When her father had brought her backstage after the performance, she’d jumped into her mother’s arms and held her fiercely, as if she might disappear.
As they followed Ama’erta into the main hall of the Tang Te Voc, Lyra felt that same transportive quality suffusing the room. It was a space of potential, and a beautifully realized one, with dark velvet seats and carved wooden balconies. She was so absorbed in the space that she couldn’t help but startle when Ryden spoke next.
Kel: Wow. It’s… bigger than I imagined.
Voss: It’s amazing! And still so wild to think this is all on one starbase…
Ama’erta turned down the central aisle of the orchestra section. The theatre was far from full - Lyra estimated it could probably hold about four hundred - but there were still plenty of other people chatting in small groups or making their way toward seats. It created a pleasant buzz of excitement throughout the space.
Kel: I’m not sure I’ve ever been in a theatre that feels… so alive.
Voss: ::grinning:: Theatres do seem to take on a personality, I think.
Ama’erta led them to their seats near the center of the room, far enough forward to have a clear view of the stage but tucked close enough to feel like part of the crowd. She bid them welcome one more time and told them to enjoy the show, and then left them to return to the hustle and bustle of dress rehearsal tasks. The two sat, and Lyra followed Ryden’s gaze upward to the constellations painted on the ceiling above. They stood out in gold gilding against a blue-black sky, twinkling as they caught the torchlight.
Kel: These seats are perfect. I can see everything.
Voss: L’Rana must be better friends with the maestro than I realized.
Ryden leaned back into his seat and she could feel the hint of his excitement - not just in anticipation of the performance, but in relief at an activity that didn’t ask him to hold himself so tightly. He might even dare to relax.
Kel: I think… I could get used to this. Even if I don’t understand a single word yet.
Voss: Some companies do actually project the translation above the stage, or have something like a long, horizontal screen worked into the proscenium arch but… ::she looked closely above the stage:: I’m not sure about this one. Honestly, it doesn’t make that much of a difference - the feeling is what really matters and you’ll hear that even if you don’t know a word of Klingon. Also, the way you have to modify vowel sounds to sing in Klingon can be kind of extreme - I’m a fairly fluent speaker and I don’t understand even half the words if I’m listening to an opera cold.
Kel: ?
Voss: I think I just fell in love with how expressive Klingon is. And it really… I ended up in the Academy’s Klingon Opera Society, and finally started to actually get to know a few other people at school and… it’ll always have a very soft spot in my heart. But you know, I don’t know much about music or theatre on Trill. You mentioned ambient compositions?
Kel: ?
Voss: I’ll have to make some time to listen. I’m always interested to hear – ::the lights flickered and conversations began to pause:: oh, here we go!
A few more flickers and then the lights on the walls went out entirely, leaving only the stage illuminated before them. Lyra felt the little thrill of excitement that ran through the audience members as the orchestra began to tune.
((Short timeskip - End of the Second Act))
Lyra had been wrong to doubt the Tang Te Voc’s ability to find a decent tenor - their Pa’Vash was quite impressive, with a rich, resonating timbre that gave his voice powerful color even in his upper register. And productions of Gav'ot toH'va really lived or died by their Pa’Vash. After all, there were really only three main roles in the show - Pa’Vash, the noble warrior who dared to ride the Barge of the Dead in search of his lost love; Kortar, ferrying the barge; and Vasha, said lost love (who really only got one aria to herself in the third act). Sure, there was the chorus of other riders on the Barge and the famous Kos'Karii trio, but most of the opera’s weight hung on Pa’Vash.
The next bit of the show was perhaps the part Lyra was looking forward to the most - the climax of the second act, where Pa’Vash must duel Fek'lhr to the death at the gates of Gre'thor. The aria was notoriously difficult, not just for the vocal agility it required, but the stamina to sing it while doing fight choreography and being heard over the full power of the orchestra. As the opening phrase began, it was like the entire audience stopped breathing. Lyra watched with wide eyes as the duel played out, complete with cymbal crashes and real sparks flying from their prop weapons.
The music swelled, the fight was nearly at its bloody conclusion - Pa’Vash stepped in close to Fek’lhr, ready to slice his throat on a high C, and then suddenly, there was a yelp from Fek’lhr as the actor fell backwards too soon and crashed into and through the wooden Gre’thor gates. Pa’Vash’s actor managed to catch himself, but one side of the broken gate popped off its hinges, and before anyone could think to move, it fell forward, smashing into Pa’Vash and knocking him to the ground with a sharp groan. Lyra’s mouth fell wide open. The whole tableau was so absurd that she almost laughed, but then several people ran in from off-stage and started hauling pieces of set off two men. The orchestra haphazardly fell silent, each instrument at its own moment. Then, she heard words from the stage she’d never actually heard in real life before, only in holonovels.
Stage Hand: Is there a doctor in the house!?
Lyra immediately turned to look at Ryden.
Voss: Uh… I think that might be your cue?
Kel: ?