Chapter 4 — First Rehearsal Friction

Third Person

The rehearsal room at the Astoria Theatre hummed with chaotic energy. Urgent footsteps crisscrossed the stage, half-finished lines were recited in murmurs, and the occasional sharp command from Margot Deveraux cut through the din. Despite the faded grandeur of the space—the gold-leaf molding framing the proscenium glinting faintly under the stage lights, the scuffed floorboards groaning under the cast's movements—it thrummed with purpose, a makeshift cathedral to the craft of theater.