Chapter 108

“Remove the makeup from your face. Sir Weissenasche, movies do not need that sort of exaggerated makeup look. I believe the magic should be...”

A light blue rune appeared from Joshua’s hand. It was a rune from Vengert, the God of Flowing Water and Healing, the same god Hyrlan served.

A great amount of flowing water gathered together to form a sphere on Joshua’s hand. That was the simplest ‘Water Accumulation Technique.’ The sphere of magic water floated over to Sir Weissenasche.

“Yes, of course.”

Sir Weissenasche had put forth meticulous effort on his makeup. Even though a portion of it was ruined by his sweat, that was something that happens frequently on stage plays.

But, after being requested to remove his makeup by Joshua, Sir Weissenasche ended up using the water ball before him to wash away his makeup.

This scene was observed by the people from the Black Swan Theatrical Troupe. To perform without makeup was something many of the performers present had never experienced before. Like Sir Weissenasche, every one of them had meticulously adorned themselves with makeup for the audition.

One should know that during auditions for stage plays, the managers would not even bother to look at the performers without a proper makeup.

But, this young film-maker seemed to be completely different from those old playwrights and troupe managers.

“Please begin your audition performance.”

After Sir Weissenasche finished washing the makeup off his face, Joshua snapped his fingers and the floating ball of water disappeared. With this, Sir Weissenasche began his first audition.

This slightly chubby nobleman walked over to the humanoid puppet. After spending a couple minutes skimming through the script, Sir Weissenasche was shocked to find out that he was able to, as if natural, absorb himself into the role of his character.

His performance lasted only a couple minutes. But, compared to the actor from the Black Swan Theatrical Troupe by the name of Baroque, Joshua was able to see a glimpse of a movie actor, not a stage play performer, from Sir Weissenasche’s performance.

After Sir Weissenasche watched ‘Beauty and the Demon,’ he had spent time and effort training himself. As such, he was aware that the method of performing on a movie was completely different from a stage play.

“One more time.”

Joshua was able to see a bit of the crazed policeman before him. Sir Weissenasche’s build and appearance was similar to that of Gary Oldman to begin with. With his performance, Joshua was able to see the image of the two men coinciding into one another.

After Sir Weissenasche made his second round of performance, the atmosphere at the audition site changed completely. The performers of the Black Swan Theatrical Troupe stopped chatting. Madam Schroder also fixed her eyes onto Sir Weissenasche.

The character Sir Weissenasche was playing, Stansfield, was a villain in ‘Léon: The Demon.’ His character was slightly unhinged and unpredictable. Yet, he gave off a great amount of charm... Gradually, Sir Weissenasche was bringing out that character before the crowd’s eyes.

Sir Weissenasche read out his final line and intimately patted the puppet’s neck.

When Sir Weissenasche turned his gaze to the surrounding performers from the Black Swan Theatrical Troupe, Joshua noticed that the young female performers took a step back.

The reason for their behavior was because Sir Weissenasche’s earlier performance was truly scary. If they were to encounter a law enforcer like Sir Weissenasche on the street, they will most definitely call for their guards!

It was so much that the young female performers of the Black Swan Theatrical Troupe were all looking at Sir Weissenasche with stage expressions in their eyes.

Essentially, they were saying with their eyes, ‘Sir Weissenasche, never would I expect for you to be this kind of person!’

Seeing their reaction, Sir Weissenasche felt very nervous and tense.

He immediately felt like his performance might be a failure and his reputation among the theatrical troupes that he had spent a great amount of time and effort building might be ruined too!

Different from the young performers, Madam Schroder and several other experienced performers from the Black Swan Theatrical Troupe all began to applaud Sir Weissenasche’s performance.

“Beautiful performance! Sir Weissenasche, I had thought that you’ll only be able to be a theater manager for the rest of your life. Never would I expect that Farucci’s artistic talent has been flowing in your blood the entire time.”

Madam Schroder was someone who had read the script for ‘Léon: The Demon.’ Thus, she knew what sort of character Stansfield should be. Sir Weissenasche’s performance was close to perfect.

Sir Weissenasche was completely baffled by the sudden praises. The Grand Duchess of Blackwood was someone with great authority in Farucci. Not only that, she was also someone with experience and knowledge for stage plays akin to the aged master performers.

Madam Schroder’s praise was enough to suffice that Sir Weissenasche had put forth an excellent performance earlier.

“Congratulations, you’ve passed. Sir Weissenasche, please go to the rear, take a seat and rest yourself,” said Joshua with a smile.

“Thank you Madam Schroder. Thank you Lord Joshua.”

Sir Weissenasche was extremely excited after hearing Madam Schroder’s praises. He bowed to her and Joshua before quickly walking to the back of the stage.

Sir Weissenasche’s performance served as a model example for the following performers of the Black Swan Theatrical Troupe. They all realized that the young director did not seek for graceful and sweet-sounding voices as they recited their lines. Nor does he seek for overly excessive emotions in their performances. All they needed to do was to bring the character they’re performing alive!

But, that was the most difficult of all. Nevertheless, the people auditioning here were all the elites of this industry.

When Sir Weissenasche arrived at the backstage with an excited mood, he encountered Baroque who auditioned for the role of Stansfield earlier.

“That young man had no idea what performance meant. I’ve been on stage for countless times at his age. Whether it be Farucci’s Capital Theater, Tomorrow’s Star Theater or the Flower of Salona Theater, my name is written all over them.”

Baroque was standing at the corner of the backstage area and was seemingly complaining to an old performer.

“The reason why you’ve failed to be selected is because you’re stubbornly clinging to the past glories and your method of performance. Baroque, you’re too arrogant. Before the audition, you didn’t even bother to read the script from that young director.”

As a senior to Baroque, the old performer offered him advice. However, Baroque was unwilling to listen.

“Regardless of what sort of script it might be, what sort of character it might be, none will trouble me! Besides, I don’t believe that young playwright is able to write any sort of outstanding script to begin with. Wasn’t the script for ‘Beauty and the Demon’ a script that he adapted from another playwright’s work?” said Baroque.

“You’re mistaken... but it’s also a good thing that you didn’t read the script.”

The old performer took out the script Joshua handed to the members of the Black Swan Theatrical Troupe before their audition. It was a copy of the script Joshua gave Madam Schroder. Right now, practically every person in the Black Swan Theatrical Troupe had a copy of the script. Baroque was the only person who refused the script and only accepted the dialogues his character was supposed to say.

“A good thing?” Baroque wasn’t able to understand what that old performer meant.

“You’ll only be able to understand why after you finished reading this script.”

“I hate how you always beat around the bush. Old Merck, give me that script.”

Baroque had read countless legendary scripts written by master playwrights. A script written by a young director? Baroque decided to check out the script to amuse himself.

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