episode_0011

A few days later, I handed Renoir the first draft of the script at the Killigruger Theater.

“What do you think, Mr. Renoir?”

“Hmm, well… … ”

Renoir stares intently at the script he completed with a single stroke of his hand.

It was so different from his usual intense attitude that I felt a little uneasy.

“Isn’t it so bad? Too poor to be used as a script?”

“Heh heh, are you kidding me? It was hard to hold back my laughter while reading. Since long ago, a comedy should have this kind of cheerful and lively sense. If I were to judge only by what I like, this script would get 25 out of 10.”

If it’s 10 out of 10, it’s 10, what’s 25?

Are you crazy about dad jokes because you’re old?

In any case, if a comedy script is funny, it is a huge success in itself.

The question was, why did Renoir react that way?

“However, I don’t know what to say… … It doesn’t seem like something our Killigruger theater company would be able to perform.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah, I see. You know the difference between a regular public theater and a private theater like ours, right?”

I understand fully.

Depending on the type of theater, the classification of the main customer base also differs greatly.

A public theater is an establishment that caters to a wide range of customers, targeting a more diverse customer base.

Anyone, whether noble or commoner, rich or poor, could come see a play as long as they paid a certain admission fee.

Private theaters, on the other hand, are establishments that primarily target the wealthy and upper-class.

Since the main customer base is limited, usually only works that suit the sophistication of the upper class are performed.

Naturally, Charlie Chaplin’s representative works, which I had copied one by one, could not become the main products of private theaters.

“Of course, it’s not like noble people don’t like comedy. Lighthearted and ridiculous comedy is something that everyone, regardless of age or gender, enjoys.”

“I’m sorry,” Renoir said in a regretful tone as he handed the script back to me.

“But unfortunately, it doesn’t fit with our extreme image. Killigruger first became popular by putting on serious and solemn religious plays.”

“Certainly… …my knowledge was short.”

Everyone can like a decent serious actor and a frivolous comedian at the same time.

But it’s rare for a serious actor to suddenly want to do a comedic role.

A theater that was showing Admiral Lee and Julius Caesar just a few days ago is suddenly showing Charlie Chaplin’s slapstick comedy?

If you hear bad reviews, you’ll hear them, but you’ll never hear good reviews.

“So, Phantom.”

While I was also deep in thought, Renoir linked arms and suddenly made an unexpected suggestion.

“How about signing a contract with another theater and performing this script?”

“Yes?”

Try signing with a theater other than Killigruger?

The other person is the playwright Phantom, who has written two hit works in a row?

“Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

“Why? Are you planning to cut ties with us forever, you?”

“No way.”

Renoir asks jokingly, smiling brightly.

At this, I waved my hand and firmly expressed my denial.

Killigruger is a first-class famous theater company known even in the capital.

Not only are their acting and directing skills outstanding, but their organizational management is also transparent, so we can work together without any burden.

In short, the huge amount of money earned from two popular works and the large amount of sponsorship from the royal family.

He could have coveted this huge sum of money and exploited me, a complete novice in theater management, but he didn’t do that at all.

Just looking at this, it seems that there is absolutely no reason for me to unilaterally cut off the relationship.

“Then that’s fine. I’m an actor who loves theater, after all. I’m jealous of losing a popular piece to a competitor, but on the other hand, I absolutely can’t stand seeing such a great piece of work buried without ever seeing the light of day.”

Renoir starts to whine as he gets up from his seat.

Then he snatched the coat from the hanger and spoke to me.

“Let’s go together first, Phantom. I know a theater that fits the script you’ve been writing perfectly. We can perform this there without any problems.”

“Hmm, what is it? I came here after a long time and wondered what you were talking about, and it was Renoir.”

Knock knock. A middle-aged woman deftly flicks cigarette ash into an ashtray.

Isabella, with deep wrinkles around her eyes but still retaining her youthful beauty, greeted us in the reception room.

“The work of the playwright Phantom, whose stock price is skyrocketing these days. You want to perform it here?”

“That’s right, Isabella. I’m making this suggestion as someone in the same industry, not as a competitor.”

“Huh.”

Isabella smiles while blowing out smoke from her donut-shaped cigarette.

She looked back and forth between me and Renoir with a bewildered expression.

Isabella, like Renoir, is a manager in charge of a theater company.

So, Renoir was the head of the ‘Gelorushina’ troupe that brought me here.

The only difference is that while Renoir is still an active actress, Isabella has retired from acting and is personally training her successor?

“I’ve been running a theater for 20 years, but this is the first time I’ve ever assigned someone else to be my theater company’s playwright. Most people, like you or me, write the scripts themselves.”

Unlike the private theater Killigruger, which had a luxurious interior, the Gelorusina was a very typical public theater of the medieval era.

The stage was set up outdoors with only minimal covering, and the quality of the seats varied greatly depending on the set price range.

Seats with poor views (i.e., seats where you have to stand to watch the play) are sold at very cheap prices, while seats with great views are sold at high prices.

Thanks to that, it’s true that it looks a bit shabby, but on the other hand, it feels like a kind of soul that’s freer than Killigruger.

“Anyway, this is the famous playwright Phantom himself, right? ”

Glance. Isabella, who was looking at me dressed up like the Phantom of the Opera in the movie, expressed her curiosity.

“By the way, why does our Phantom writer wear a mask all the time? He looks like a handsome, cheerful guy with a tall and healthy physique, right?”

“I got burned when hydrochloric acid was poured on my face. Unfortunately, the inside of the mask is so hideous that it makes you scream.”

“Oh, my. Poor thing. As expected, God is cruelly fair.”

As I recited the setting of the film released in 1943, Isabella gave me a look of secret sympathy.

To put it roughly, could it be said that it is a perspective on an unfortunate genius who experienced both great fortune and misfortune at the same time?

He seemed to believe that he had gained the writer’s talent to explode with potential every time he wrote, but in return he had lost his looks.

Of course, my real face under the mask was completely fine, so it was a useless pity.

“Well. It’s not a bad suggestion at all for me. I know the fame of and . Renoir, I’ve known you for over 15 years now, so I can trust your recommendation.”

“Yeah. I don’t know about other people, but I won’t talk nonsense to you, Lizzy. We’re not related.”

“Be quiet. Anyway, if you give me a little space.”

Renoir, who cracks jokes while giggling, and Isabella, who secretly responds despite being annoyed.

They had been together for 15 years, and it seemed like they had a pretty strong relationship.

Well, since they were so close, I guess they decided it was okay to hand over the Phantom script.

“But is that really okay, Mr. Phantom? Our theater style is so different from that sloppy, sloppy guy’s style, isn’t it?”

Isabella, who keeps giggling next to me, looks at me while laughing at Renoir.

The question is whether someone who has only dealt with serious dramas can adapt to this atmosphere.

The more distinct the original color of a work is, the more difficult it is for an author to break away from it.

But in the world, seeing is believing.

As if to allay Isabella’s worries, Renoir pushed my script forward.

“Read it yourself and judge for yourself. The first draft of the script is already out.”

“What? You even wrote a script? You’re really well-prepared.”

Isabella receives the problematic script with her eyes wide open.

She quickly turns the pages with a bewildered expression.

Like Renoir, the other members of the theater company seemed to be good at quickly reading long scripts.

One minute like that, then two minutes.

Isabella’s brown eyes were busy following the letters on the paper.

“Phuhut!”

For a moment, her lips twisted and her shoulders shook.

It was worth watching in many ways, holding the script in one hand and the corner of the mouth with the other to hold back laughter.

“… … It’s been a long time. I burst out laughing just by reading the situation in the script. Even that’s a mistake I made when I was a beginner.”

Isabella, who had been going back and forth between grumbling and calming down for a while, finally finished reading.

She said, gently laying the script down on the living room table.

“Our Phantom writer, I thought you were a serious drama specialist, but you also have talent for comedy? With this level of perfection, you could put on a show right away, right?”

“Is that so? Thank you, Miss Isabella.”

Comedy is a time-honored genre that, along with tragedy, is considered one of the two basic forms of theatre.

The main features are the light-hearted plot and bright, happy ending that often come to mind when thinking of comedy.

Because of its lightness, comedy has historically been neglected compared to tragedy, but the role of comedy in discussing satire and entertainment in the history of art can never be ignored.

And the works of the master Charlie Chaplin were closer to farce than comedy.

A farce is a short, humorous comedy that originated from the primitive farces of ancient Greece and Rome and was perfected through the traditions of medieval France.

Its most notable features include humor that is exaggerated, outrageous, and unrealistic.

There was no comedy more fitting for this than Charlie Chaplin’s, with its dazzling slapstick and absurd humor.

In fact, he is evaluated as the person who revived on the screen the original form of the farce performed in the marketplaces of Athens and Rome.

“Okay. Contract done. The script is complete, so there’s no need to wait any longer. I’ll tell our kids to get ready quickly.”

Isabella picked up her pipe again and made a decision.

At the same time, she added with a slightly regretful look in her eyes.

“It’s a bit of a shame. My collaboration with such a talented playwright ended with this one piece. Renoir, I’m so jealous of that guy I can’t stand it.”

“Isn’t that the end?”

“… … Huh?”

“What?”

The two actors turned around, surprised by my answer.

Maybe because they had a close relationship, the timing of their moves was perfect.

At this, I smiled brightly and explained clearly.

“There will be more comic scripts featuring Chaplin. And they will all be performed at the Gelorusina Theatre.”

“That, that, that, is that really true, Mr. Phantom? Uh, uh, you’re going to continue to collaborate with our theater in the long term?”

Isabella, who can’t seem to close her gaping mouth, looks half-stunned by my sudden declaration.

And of course, this time too I was wholehearted and sincere.

What I have brought you today is just a script based on one of Charlie Chaplin’s countless films.

From 15-minute short films in the early days of his career to mid-length films made after his Hollywood debut.

There are so many works that will be localized and presented in other world versions, such as , , , and .