A Comedy of Eros

Act III

Where we follow the ongoing preparations of the Conpany, and the Club; two old friends meet; and in a final theatrical scene, errors are made and chaos ensues.

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Scene I

Teatro Nuovo

"One, two, three... one, two... can you hear me from there?"

Clang, stomp... "ouch!" - furniture being moved.

The Lady King's Women were hard at work.

Their first performance would be Romeo and Juliet?; they'd repeat it for a couple of nights, and leave their dope original comedy for the 14th, Valentine's Day.

Bzzz... BZZZZZZZ... "Turn off that darn microphone!"

Daya and Maria were setting the backdrops, Gina was doing a last check on lights and sounds, and a few others were busy repeating their lines.

"What do you think?" Gloria asked, looking at the hustle and bustle all around them.

Boo and Yoga passed them by, carrying a large waterbed; they accidentally bumped into Janae, who turned with a scary expression.

"I am deeply sorry, my fair maiden," Boo stopped to say. "I would be happy to show you how much, and make of this offending object my accomplice in the sweet task."

Janae made a face, and Jones tugged at the waterbed. "Come Boo, the maiden passes this time," and they went on.

"Everything seems to proceed regularly," Red answered her colleague.

"Volume's OK now!" Nicky yelled to Gina.

On some seats in the first rows, some other women were discussing.

"I have compiled a comprehensive list of the material needed at each location," Brook handed a sheet to Judy King.

"Yes, and Gina and Nicky said they already found good spots for the loudspeakers and all their sh... equipment," Taystee added.

The previous day the company had visited the medieval center and sites of the Shakespearean tragedy – the Capulet's House with the balcony, Romeo's residence, and Juliet's tomb of course; they would set a very special series of events there.

"A'right girls. We gotta plan this very well," their patron stressed and gave the papers to Poussey, as the others assented. "The round table was a success, we gotta ride the wave!"

Things had been going well for them in New York and around the State, but this was next level and it had the potential to really make or break them. Their first tour outside the US. They had several dates in festivals and theaters after this, in Venice, then Milan, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.

The favorable welcome they had received the other day seemed auspicious, but they had to stay focused and keep up the good work on marketing and PR, too.

Judy's friend Bill and Tamika were working on that remotely, from home, but some of the company members were onto it there, too.

"What did the Mayor's Office say?" Alison asked, glancing at Maritza's computer from where, with a quick keyboard trick, a window immediately disappeared.

She rolled her eyes.

"He probably won't make it, got lots of prior commitments, yadda yadda" Maritza answered, retrieving the email.