It takes place not in the ancient monastery itself, where onecan buy honey from cloistered bees, but in a municipal hallbuilt in the rock beneath the monastery. Being a place ofworship, it lacks a dungeon, and so the region of Piemontehas built one. In the auditorium (whose rear access dooris open to different weather: a sudden storm brewing), theteenagers are arrayed exactly as Less imagines the hiddenmonks to be: with devout expressions and vows of silence.
The elderly chairpeople sit at a kingly table; they also do notspeak. The only speaker is a handsome Italian (the mayor,
turns out) whose appearance on the podium is announced bya crack of thunder; the sound goes out on his microphone;