You are welcome. This play is a prelude. You will not hear anything here that you have not already heard. You will not see anything here that you have not already seen. You will not see a performance. You will not see a play. There will be no acting here.

You are the subject. You are at the center of attention. Nothing is being performed here; you are being addressed. But you are not an evening-length play. You are not a pleasant notion. You are exhausting. You are not a rewarding subject. You are a dramaturgical mistake. You are not realistic. You are not theatrically effective.

This stage is not a world, just as the world is not a stage. Our speech is our action. By speaking, we become theatrical. We are theatrical because we speak in a theater. By speaking to you, you can become aware of yourselves. You become aware that you are seated. You become aware that you are seated in a theater.

This play is a prelude. It is not a prelude to another play but to what you have done, are doing, and will do. You are the subject. You will soon move. You will eventually find your way back to reality. You will live your own life again.

But first, you will be insulted.