The Opening Act

An apprentice who can hear when "there's one extra person beneath the stage" joins a ramshackle opera troupe that performs for the dead. As one play after another unfolds, the troupe leader's unfinished old account, Uncle Wu's drum that won't sound, Douzi's night of escape, and Xilian's funeral play written for herself all point toward the same nameless performance. It can only be staged once. When it ends, someone will have to pay for it with their life.