(mute character) RED NUDE (First man) ENFERMERO (Manservant) STUDENT CHORUS LADIES CHOIR MAGICIAN (Emperor) LADY (Elena) Synopsis First Scene | The Folding Screen Enrique, a theatre DIRECTOR, has just premiered a version of Romeo and Juliet. He is visited by Gonzalo, his former lover (FIRST MAN), who recriminates him for the lack of risk in his artistic design, and insists that the true theatre is that “under the sand”. Gonzalo pressures Enrique to remove his “mask” and dare to live the truth of their love, and perform the theatre he truly likes. Afraid and nervous, the Director calls ELENA, his wife, who reveals herself as a Greek statue: an ideal, but made of stone. Elena confronts Gonzalo harshly. The Director is split between his true love (Gonzalo) and social norms (Elena). A folding screen appears: the characters cross it and emerge dressed with fabulous women clothes or theatrical costumes. Second Scene | The ruin A scene set in Roman ruins that bring back the memory of the past relationship between the Director and Gonzalo, who are presented as the Characters in Vine Leaves and in Bells, who argue, love each other, and fight. The scene also goes into the dark and violent side of sex. The EMPEROR rapes and kills a boy. Third Scene | The Theatre under the Sand The Director stages a new version of Romeo and Juliet, this time in its form as “theatre under the sand”. The scene unfolds in Juliet's grave, underground. The fascinating character of JULIET appears the embodiment of the tensions between the bourgeois lifestyle (false, conventional and external) and another way of living that acknowledges the complete truth of the individual, including the deep, dark parts, represented by the BLACK HORSE. The climax of the Theatre under the Sand, and maybe the whole play, is the dance of the empty costumes (Pierrot, Ballerina and Pyjamas), while Juliet goes back to her grave. Fourth Scene | The revolution In the new version of Romeo and Juliet, the Director has cast a boy as Juliet. When discovered, this sparks a revolution that seems to envelop the whole city. The choir is divided in Students (supporters of the revolution who celebrate the freedom of love) and the Ladies (who represent the bourgeois and conventional point of view, and who want to leave the theatre at all costs). A Christ painted in red appears on the