Table for Two: Fictions

Tommy and Mary sit in their seats at Carnegie Hall, waiting for Isserlis, a famed cellist, to begin his performance. When Tommy and Mary, the parents of two children, decided to start going out more, Tommy took up classical music. Swayed by the exclusivity of becoming a Patron of Carnegie Hall, Tommy purchased two seats in the Virtuosos series. At the first performance, Tommy noticed that an old man next to him was recording the performance—small antennae protruded from the man’s coat sleeves. Tommy was incensed by this infringement of the rights of the artists, Carnegie Hall, and his fellow audience members. Mary finds Tommy insufferable when he feels morally justified.

Tommy becomes even more furious over time and decides to take action by lodging a complaint with an usher, LaToya. LaToya does not take Tommy seriously, but she calls the manager, Mr. Cornell, who promises to address the issue at intermission. At intermission, the old man, Arthur Fein, denies recording the show. A police officer arrives, and Tommy reveals the antennae in Mr. Fein’s sleeve—a recording device. Mr. Fein claims that he used to attend the series with his wife, who is now too ill to attend herself, so he is recording the performances for her to listen to afterward.