Chapter 773 — The New-Style Theater
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
Once he had confirmed that there really was nothing on the stage but a pile of arcane components and a crystal array, the Earl of Ballin believed he had grasped the essence of this so-called "new-style theater."
It was no ingenious new technology, yet he still had to grant it a word of praise: it was a remarkable idea.
Record a traditional play in a memory crystal, then exploit the properties of the arcanenet terminal—replayable at will, broadcastable over vast distances—to turn a single performance into a "commodity" that could be endlessly copied and endlessly reproduced. Cheap arcane devices drove the cost of such "theater" down to an inconceivable level in an instant, while its effect lost nothing.
Hence a theater so thoroughly "popular" in character, hence tickets priced at only six aires, hence a "new-style theater" that even ordinary citizens could attend at their leisure.
Without question, this accorded with the "New Order" that His Majesty Gao Yang Cecil championed so vigorously—with its two cores: "technology in the service of the masses" and "mass production as the foundation."
No wonder this thing had won such enthusiastic backing from the Administrative Hall, enough to be promoted across the imperial capital with such fanfare.
The Earl of Ballin could see all this, and so could virtually everyone else present. Those at Victoria's side were no fools, and in the course of keeping the Administrative Hall running in the old royal capital they had encountered many cases involving arcane technology; at least in terms of comprehension and associative power, they could easily guess how this new-style theater had been realized. The technology itself was unsurprising, but they still admired whoever had hit upon such a fine idea: in an age of such rapid change, to conceive a good idea was itself a formidable ability.
Having worked it all out, the Earl of Ballin shifted his posture in his chair, preparing to take in what was about to unfold on stage from a relatively comfortable angle. The place was packed, the seats were not generous, and there were no senior servants offering service, no pastries to while away the time, no private balcony. It was not a comfortable environment for playgoing—but it might yet prove a novel and interesting experience.
He had barely settled into his new posture when a bell rang from somewhere.
And on the stage, light rose.
In the hall that had seemed so noisy a moment before, the voices gradually died down. Those common folk entering a "theater" for the first time finally fell quiet. With anticipation, nervousness, and curiosity, they watched the crystal array on stage light up one by one in the glow of magic, and then the holographic projection rose into the air.
Many understood that this must be something akin to the arcanenet terminals that played programs in the streets, but that did not stop them from fixing their eyes on what the projection revealed.
After a brief advertisement introducing the Code Family Services Company and stating that it was one of the investors in this play, the magic-shadow drama reached its opening. The first thing to greet every eye was a messy street, and a pack of children running and romping through mud and sand.
No castles, no knights, no princess come down to mingle with the common folk, no gardens and fountains viewed from a manor balcony.
Only character after character living in the crowded wards and lanes, drifting through the alleys and streets, struggling to keep body and soul together.
The Earl of Ballin frowned in some bewilderment, and several people around him frowned in bewilderment as well.
Victoria Wilde merely watched it all in silence, her face impassive.