Key & Compass presents:
Opening Night
by David Batterham

• Map
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Characters, Credits, Inventory
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• External links:
  • This story at IFDB, IFWiki, and ifwizz.
  • Tweet about this walkthrough on Twitter.

Map

Walkthrough

Front of Theatre

> x me. i. x rose. x ticket.

> x playbill. x throng. x doorman.

> n. (Your tattered suit doesn't meet tonight's dress code.)

> x my suit.

> e. (You see nothing useful in that direction.)

> w.

14th Street West

> x trees. x bench. x tramp. x paintbrush. x posters.

Talking to the tramp doesn't help much. He seems unable to talk?

> take poster. (Tramp stops you then mimes painting a wall.)

> e. nw.

Alley

> x can. x peel. x newspaper. read it. x lid.

> take all from can.

> close can. stand on can. u.

Fire Escape

> open window. e.

Storage Room

> x bucket. smell it. take it.

> x dragon. x bust. x mannequin. x sets. x door.

> w. d. stand. se. w.

14th Street West

> give bucket to tramp. (He pastes posters everywhere, heading east.)

> e.

Front of Theatre

The tramp is off to the east. Every now and then he returns here before heading east again.

> x playbill. ("Twisty Little Passages", 1917)

> drop peel.

> z. (Continue to wait until the tramp returns.)

The tramp slips on the peel, the bucket lands on the doorman's head, and the doorman chases the tramp to the west.

> n.

Foyer

> x chandeliers. x colonnades. w.

Cloakroom

> x shelves. x hooks. x coats. x hats.

> e. n.

Vestibule

> x usher. show ticket to usher. (He leads you to...)

Row F

> x curtains. x seat. sit on seat.

> z. z. z. (The curtains part. Miranda Lily is there.)

> x Lily. x forest.

It's now intermission, and you go outside to catch your breath.

Front of Theatre

> nw.

Alley

A dumpster has replaced the trash can.

> x graffiti. read it. g. g. g.

> x dumpster. x crowbar. take it.

> se. w.

14th Street West

> x bench. take plank.

> pry plank with crowbar. (You have it.)

> e. n. w.

Cloakroom

> x chest. open it. (locked)

> open chest with crowbar.

> x bottle. take it. x tools.

> read newspaper. (You can't focus on it.)

> e.

Foyer

> n. (There's a hole in the floor! But no one else notices?)

> put plank on hole. n.

Vestibule

A wounded soldier half-collapses here. The usher doesn't notice.

> x soldier. give bottle to soldier.

The soldier recovers, and then the usher notices, and takes him to his seat.

> show ticket to usher.

Row F

> sit on seat. z. z. z.

The curtains part. Miranda Lily, in chains, sings to a monster.

> x monster. x Lily.

Hero arrives, kills the monster, but the monster is the soldier? Now Lily stares at you directly. You close your eyes at her pain.

> open eyes.

The theatre is now empty, dark, and half destroyed.

> stand.

> x holes. x seats. x stage. x trench. x curtain.

> i. x stem. (This is all that's left of the rose.)

> d.

Trench

You remember serving in the war in France.

> w.

Backstage

> x bulldozer. x door. n.

Dressing Room

> x mirror. x table. x vase.

> put stem in vase. (Miranda Lily died in 1953.)

> s. s.

Utility Corridor

> x pipes. x ladder. u. e.

Foyer

You again remember Miranda Lily's performance.

> x chandelier. x colonnades. s.

*** CURTAIN ***

Extras

Characters

• Miranda Lily is the Broadway star you want to see.
• A doorman stands at the front of the theatre.
• A throng of people have arrived to see the show.
• A tramp wants to put up some posters, but he doesn't have any paste.
• An usher in the vestibule waits to show you to your seat.
• A wounded soldier arrives in the vestibule during intermission. He also plays a monster in the performance.
• An actor playing the hero is also in the performance.

Mentioned:

• President Wilson is mentioned in the newspaper article.

Credits

Opening Night is an interactive fiction by David Batterham. It was written for the 2008 Interactive Fiction Competition.

This game focuses on story rather than on puzzles. The few puzzles that exist should be relatively simple to solve. It should not be possible to put the game in an unwinnable state. If you do get stuck, you can consult the walkthrough provided.

The author can be contacted by email at drbatter@drbatter.com.

Many thanks are due to my beta testers:

• Carl Muckenhoupt
• Jarno Hanhart
• Joseph Hilgard
• Katzy
• Ramona

Inventory

• a red rose. You're carrying it. Although your goal in the game is simply to give it to Miranda Lily, sadly you never will. After the second half of the performance, years have passed, and all you have left of the rose is a stem. In the dressing room, put the stem in the vase.
• a ticket. You're carrying it. In the vestibule, show the ticket to the usher, and he will take you to your seat. You'll need to do this before each half of the performance.
• a rotting banana peel. It's in the trash can in the alley. After giving the bucket of paste to the tramp, drop the peel at the front of the theatre. Eventually, the tramp will slip on the peel, causing a delightful slapstick accident, and the doorman will chase the tramp away. Now you can enter the theatre.
• a scrap of newspaper. It's in the trash can in the alley. Read it.
• a bucket. It's in the storage room. Smell it; it contains paste. Give the bucket to the tramp so he can put up his posters.
• a rusty crowbar. It's in the dumpster in the alley.
• In the cloakroom, open the chest with the crowbar. The chest contains a water bottle.
• At 14th Street West, examine the bench, then pry the plank with the crowbar to get the plank.
• a water bottle. It's in the large tool chest in the cloakroom; open the chest with the crowbar. In the vestibule, give the bottle to the wounded soldier to revive him.
• a wooden plank. At 14th Street West, acquire it by prying it from the bench with the crowbar. In the foyer, put the plank on the hole so you can again go north into the vestibule.

Unlisted, but you also have:

• your tattered suit. You're wearing it. Although the doorman won't let you into the theatre while wearing it, you can't find a better outfit. Get rid of the doorman instead; see rotting banana peel.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough is provided free of charge since the work it's based on has less than fifteen locations. Please consider it a thank you for your support!

I create larger walkthroughs too! Please visit my Patreon account if you're interested in helping me create more interactive fiction walkthroughs. I appreciate all the help I can get! Thanks again.