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The Murder Scene (2 Jan 2010)

Ten minutes away from the end of intermission.

The theater lights still glare down at the audience, bright and golden. Those closest to the front can hear an abrupt scattering of footsteps backstage, followed by hurried exclamations. A thud. Without warning, the curtains begin to pull apart.

They peel away to reveal a fully lit stage. Several of the cast are staring up at the ceiling and turn around, pale-faced, to the audience. Some spectators laugh at this folly. "Close it!" a voice offstage yells but it is too late.

A loud crack cuts through the laughter and a row of bodies fall from above- not quite hitting the stage floor. The wide, aghast eyes of the Opera's principle performers stare back at the audience as the lynched corpses rocked by their necks like ripened fruit. Somebody screams.