The theater buzzed with the nervous energy of opening night. Costumes swished as actors hurried past each other, stagehands whispered cues, and the director paced, clutching his clipboard like a lifeline. But behind the velvet curtain, in a narrow corridor crammed with props, tension boiled over. Damien Travers, the leading man, stood nose-to-nose with Mark Randall, the actor portraying the villain. Their voices, though hushed at first, escalated with the kind of passion reserved for the stage.
