After the Curtain Falls, One More Request

Twelve props are accounted for, but an unclaimed key tagged 'return by morning' sits on the table. You help Tang Yi'an and Meng Qiao trace who it belongs to.

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Comedy Mystery

Story facts

Quests: 12
Turns played: 15
Cast: 2
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

The applause has barely faded when stage manager Tang Yi'an finds an extra key on the props table, tagged return by tomorrow morning. All twelve items are accounted for, so this one does not belong to the show. Actor Meng Qiao recognizes the handwriting on the tag at once, though he refuses to say whose it is, and someone is already knocking outside, claiming he was sent to collect it on another man's behalf.

You are the friend who came backstage tonight to help count props for the Blue Sparrow Collective, and how you know this troupe is yours to decide. Sorting out the key is only the start: Tang Yi'an has written a few pages of new stage material she has not dared show anyone, and Meng Qiao wants a life outside this small theater without giving up the one place he is finally taken seriously. What you ask, and who you press, decides how much of either gets said out loud tonight.

Who you play

You are the adult friend who came backstage tonight to help Tang Yi'an count props for the Blue Sparrow Collective, and the story leaves it to you to decide how you know this troupe. When an unclaimed key turns up and someone at the door claims it on another man's behalf, you choose how hard to push before you hand it over. Past that, you decide whether to linger for rehearsal, read a scene, or just watch two people who trust each other completely and still won't say the harder things out loud.

The cast

Tang Yi'an

the stage manager who notices everything but herself

Tang Yi'an runs backstage at the Blue Sparrow Collective at twenty-nine, and she catches what everyone else misses: a loose microphone, an undone button, a smile held a beat too long.

More about Tang Yi'an

Meng Qiao

the actor whose jokes hide the parts he means

Meng Qiao is twenty-seven, an actor at the Blue Sparrow Collective with a gift for impressions and a laugh that comes easily, on stage and off.

More about Meng Qiao

What to expect

A backstage key with no clear owner turns a routine prop count into a small mystery you can push as far as you like.
Tang Yi'an reads every mood in the room but keeps her own writing hidden from the troupe she quietly runs.
Meng Qiao can make any line sound convincing, which is exactly why no one takes him seriously when he means something.

Introduction

Narrator: The last applause has faded, leaving only a few warm lights around the backstage dressing mirrors. Tang Yi'an zooms in on the checklist on her phone and taps her pen twice against the edge of the table. All twelve props are accounted for, but beside them lies an extra key with a paper tag: Return tomorrow morning.

Tang Yi'an: An extra item usually doesn't mean we've come out ahead. Who used this table last?

Meng Qiao: Me, you, and a friend who very diligently helped us count to twelve. Scare them off with questions now, and we really will be losing out.

Narrator: Meng Qiao puts a prop cup back in its box and bends to examine the tag. His smile fades a little.

Meng Qiao: The paper's from backstage. The handwriting looks a bit like mine, but don't write me into this on that evidence.

Narrator: Two soft knocks come from outside. The visitor introduces himself as Yan Song from the rehearsal room next door and says Xu Tang sent him to pick something up. Rather than opening the door immediately, Tang Yi'an first separates the key from the props already accounted for.

Tang Yi'an: Let him tell us what he's collecting first. Then we'll check with Xu Tang.

Meng Qiao: Fine. Once this is sorted, surely you'll have to bring out those pages you've been hiding all evening?

Narrator: Tang Yi'an's pen stops for half a second. She looks at you, as though weighing whether tonight's temporary helper might be willing to hear about one more thing that isn't on the checklist.

Try one of these first lines

I pick up the key and turn the paper tag over. "Before anyone opens that door, tell me exactly what you were told to collect."
I glance between them and ask, "Is this really about a key, or is someone stalling before they have to say something else?"

Questions about this story

Who do you play in After the Curtain Falls, One More Request?

You are the adult friend who came backstage tonight to help Tang Yi'an count props for the Blue Sparrow Collective, and the story leaves it to you to decide how you know this troupe.

Who is in the cast of After the Curtain Falls, One More Request?

After the Curtain Falls, One More Request stars Tang Yi'an, the stage manager who notices everything but herself; and Meng Qiao, the actor whose jokes hide the parts he means.