Afterglow Parlor: Small Impossible Things

About Afterglow Parlor: Small Impossible Things

Afterglow Parlor: Small Impossible Things is an illustrated interactive story in five small wonders. The Afterglow Parlor is a theatre on the flat roof of an old department store at the top of a hill city. It has no electric light and plays only in the afterglow, the hour after the sun goes down. Its founder, Lavinia Ashdown, wrote its one play, The Kite-Maker’s Wife, and died last winter, and since the spring each of her four actors has remembered a different script. Every evening something small and impossible happens on the stage: a kite flies with no wind, the painted moon fills from new to full, the rain falls on the whole city and stops at the edge of the boards, a fifth chair turns up warm at the supper table, and on the last night all four actors speak a line that none of them was given. You are the new stage manager, in the prompt corner. When the impossible thing happens, you decide how the show meets it: call the cue as written, hold and let it happen, or signal the cast to play along. After the show the actor it happened to tells you what their script says, and you tell them what you think it means. Understand it and they remember, and the next evenings change. The author’s commentary is optional: open Lavinia’s prompt book before any evening and her director’s note for it appears after the show; read them all and the last evening is hers. There are five endings. The text goes up to Largest, every line is announced to screen readers, you can go back to any choice, and the moments are never a test you can fail. A new rule each week and a daily challenge keep it fresh.

How to play

Press Read on or tap the page to continue, and tap a choice (or press 1 to 5) to answer. Z or the Back button returns to your last choice.
Before each evening, at the call board, you can open or close Lavinia’s prompt book. Then go up to the prompt corner.
When the impossible thing happens, choose how the show meets it. Answering while it is happening earns applause; answering later loses nothing.
In the dressing room, tell the actor what their impossible thing means. The actors’ scripts go on the board (E, or the Scripts button).
After the last evening the curtain comes down, and what you understood decides the ending. T changes the text size.

Controls

Tap the page, or press Enter, Space or Ⓐ — read on
Tap a choice, or press 1 to 5 — choose
Z, Backspace or Ⓑ — go back to the last choice
E or Ⓨ — the actors’ scripts; L or Ⓧ — the prompt book so far; T — text size
P, Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

How long is a story?

About fifteen to twenty minutes for the five evenings.

What is Lavinia’s prompt book?

The author’s commentary. Lavinia wrote the play and left a director’s note for every evening. Open or close her prompt book at the call board. Her notes never change what happens on stage, and reading them all opens her own ending.

Is anything timed?

Only a bonus. Each impossible moment has a short window: answer inside it and the audience applauds. Answer later and nothing is lost. The window can be turned off in the settings.

What decides the ending?

How many impossible things you understood, how the show met them night after night, and whether you read Lavinia’s notes.

Can I play with a keyboard or a screen reader?

Yes. Every line and choice is announced, every button works with the keyboard or a controller, and the text goes up to Largest.

Does it save?

Yes, in this browser: the evening you are on, the endings you have found and your settings. Nothing is uploaded.