Curtains open.
Darkness.
The actor walks on stage.

Red light.

Blinding. Terrifying. Bloodred.
He is perfectly still.
He coughs.
He kneels.
He lays down.

Arms folded. 
His vision is relaxed.
His heart beats softly.
Thump, Thump, Thum, Th th th h
Audible life.
He hums.
Disconnected. Broken. Deluded.
Hmmm numnh nuh nh hh m m

The audience shifts uncomfortably.
Dare they look at each other?
Even when their embarrassment is his?
The critic smirks and brings down his pen.

He lays there motionless.
A monument of passed time.
Calmly suffocated in the extremes of light.

He softly speaks,
“I loved a girl once”

The acoustics of the venue reverberate with pain.
The review unlettered.

The audience now realizes 
what they paid for.