Diana and Michael arrive at a theatre to audition for a play about Emperor Norton, and are soon interrupted by the arrival of Marla, the playwright. She is astonished that they have been invited to audition, since the play is unfinished, but decides she can use their talents to work out the more difficult scenes of the play. A man emerges from the wings dressed as a nineteenth-century emperor, protesting that the scene bears little resemblance to Norton’s actual death. He also challenges their perceptions of other episodes in the play. Marla, Diana and Michael begin to see how the threads of the mystery come together. Marla, won over, demands that they restage the scenes, and she joins her destiny with his; Empress to his Emperor, in the realm of fantasy, spirit, art, and love.

Duration: 150′