I feel like eridian theater would lean more into improvisational and experimental performances at times. Because Eridians have perfect memory, so every production of an opera tries to make it their own in some way. Either to build upon the story or to alter an aspect of its structure and explore how that change could ripple effect and quake the plot.
(Also, of Opera/theater is the show biz of Erid, then radio would be the TV. And not just podcast talk radio. Full sound scapes productions and ongoing plots. There are def eridian soap operas that have been running for literal centuries)
Another thing… the costuming.
There’s a reason I ended the act one post at the point that I did. Because act two has to face the music that a culture as button up as Erid needs to make the choice. Take creative liberties and keep Rocky in his crew uniform for the show, or commit to the true events and have their star saving lead actor proudly showing hole.
Big productions do not want to put an age restriction on their performance and instead put Rocky in a ruggedly torn and barely holding on uniform. This has the effect of every eridian now carnally thirsting for Rocky’s character and Rocky himself by extension. It’s agreed that Adrian is a very lucky boulder.
(Listen, I know book lore Eridians reproduce asexually, but that does not mean they cannot still have attraction and desire. They are intelligent social creatures with a modest body culture, let them be a bit repressed and weird about it. If anything it gives Rocky a bigger reason to have embraced the nudist life in space.)
There are absolutely productions who have Rocky in his underwear the entire time if they play it more comically. Very few go full nudist, and if they do it’s played into as a sign of Rocky’s madness in isolation.
(There is 0 reference to eating at all in any play, as not only is it considered obscene, that is not something Rocky ever admitted to showing Grace in interviews lol)
And yes! The Grace puppet gets its own wardrobe too! The puppeteers and costume designers spent an entire day with Grace in his dome, watching the way he moved and how different cloths fit him. They all loved the dress and the way it twirled on his two legged body.
By the end of the pre-production, Grace ends up doubling his wardrobe with everything the designers make him. They give him the first drafts and ask him to model in it for the puppeteers to give the designers notes on how to adjust the design to fit the puppet itself.
Grace ends up becoming friends with not only the puppeteers, to Rocky’s delight, but the costumers as well. So much so that when the Opera premieres, they offer to dress Grace for the red velvet carpet. Grace gave them almost full creative freedom, only asking that it be comfortable for his soft body.
They and their team go all out and create the most fabulous dress Grace has ever seen. They go a bit overboard on the heavy skirts, so much so that Rocky has to help Grace carry it half the time. But Grace is happy to be able to sit comfortably during the 5 hour show, with all the layers of soft fabric doubling as a blanket.
