Chapter 36 - 24: Theater (2)
People might be illiterate, but most of them have eyes and ears.
As a result, opera and various forms of theater are considered the most influential arts in this world. Numerous stories have been adapted into a variety of plays, performed repeatedly in every corner of the continent. Humans, dwarfs, elves, and even the barbarian clan of the Desolate Land are all captivated by them.
Except for the Titan Giants. The main reason is probably that they can't find a big enough stage.
The content of the stories fully showcases the thoughts, cultures, and aspirations of different races.
For example, elves. In their plots, there's always at least one human secretly chopping down a forest, and the human always ends up executed. Even in love stories that have absolutely nothing to do with humans.
For dwarfs, their lines are filled with all kinds of cursing. There's always a hypocritical elf and a human who wants to steal their treasure.
For humans, in their realms, the main genres are holy plays and knight plays. Holy plays, funded by the Church, aim to glorify the Holy Spirit. As for knight plays, they are usually financed by nobles. The protagonist is typically a knight, who slays one or two evil dragons or liches, and then marries a princess. Although people don't understand why evil dragons and liches love kidnapping princesses so much, they always have to kidnap one or two, right? Otherwise, who would the knight marry after defeating the villains?
Hmm? You mentioned demons? No, no, no. Demons are the villains in holy plays. Though everything is made up, there are rules to follow.
Of course, sometimes the villain in knight plays can also be human. This has its own logic. For example, in the Isaac Kingdom, if the antagonist in the story is human, it's usually the King of Allen Kingdom, their neighbor. The feud between these two kingdoms is deep-rooted, sparking conflict almost every century, even with Church arbitration. When they're not fighting, what do they do? Naturally, they dig up the enemy's soldiers from the graves and kill them again on the stage.
It's been estimated that each year, at least ten million soldiers from Allen Kingdom die on the stages in Isaac Kingdom, ten times more than the total casualties of their real wars over millennia. You can imagine the situation in Allen Kingdom is similar.
And these plays are funded by both royal families.