Empty Theatre Quotes

“Loneliness is keenest when in the company of others, when comparisons suggest that everyone else is relating to and forming bonds with one another ... To make a connection requires risking rejection. To share a story requires an audience trustworthy enough to receive it. The longer a person remains isolated, the more sensitive they become to potential threats. The longer a story goes untold, the harder it gets to tell.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“A panic blooms inside Ida.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“FOR EVERY PERSON ACQUAINTED WITH LUDWIG there exists a theory as to the cause of his death.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“The moonlight made the room bright as day.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“Church bells toll, reminding people to pray for Ludwig’s soul.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“What they see, before the body slips from their grasp, are the whites of Ludwig’s eyes, his mouth stretched into a howl.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“If Ludwig’s life could be made up of only moments like this, he … would probably still find a way to be unhappy.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“It’s like trying to keep a cork in a champagne bottle,”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“Sisi indicates the blousy white blossoms, shadowed in pink: “Magnolia.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“The gardens are scented with lilac and acacia trees, and the ground is sandy and soft,”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“Sisi arrives to the family party in her new blush moire dress and a mood.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“Sisi pouts at not even having managed to annoy him.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“She tries to work out an equation in her head that explains how much each of these loves relies on the other, but she has never been taught math, so it’s a lost cause.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“Sisi’s mother hugs her and tells her she’s perfect, but perfect is not what Sisi has ever wanted to be.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“Here is one more thing that Sisi is allowed to look at, but not to touch, one more thing she used to hold close that is now at arm’s length.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“The city attempts to match the beauty of its new Empress.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“Sisi’s ego bruises easily.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“The disgusting trail should serve as a lesson to his parents, but it’s the servants who will have to clean it up, so no one learns a thing from this cruel attempt at discipline.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“recoiling as if their touch scalds his delicate skin.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“The wind blows the straw from her hair and the wrinkles from her dress,”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“Sisi had shown signs of this melancholy strain. If she had been colicky, that would have been one thing, but the infant Sisi fussed silently—often refusing to eat, sleeping far less than her brothers and sisters did, never wanting to be held.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“That is the word that everyone uses—“eccentricity”—though the tone with which the word is spoken always lines the word with an omen.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“with such steady grace that Ludwig imagines a spider descending its silk.”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“delicate white buds”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“bouquet of jasmine”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...

“his jacket turned inside out on dry land missing a bullet hole’s worth of fabric,”
― Jac Jemc, Empty Theatre: or, The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...