In the opera, the Empress Isadora and Manuel Garcia – two social outcasts – sit around a campfire singing about the “lies and legends” of California when Sam, an African-American, enters.
Isadora and Garcia tell him that it is the house of General Vallejo – the former proprietor of California who lost everything during the infamous Bear Flag revolt (an incident about which he still has nightmares).
And indeed, inside the house, the Vallejos are finding little sleep with tormenting visions of their past and present (so called “dreams that are real and wounds that will not heal.”).
As the production of Othello begins, Johnny Rowe – who has been cast in the title role – is trying to keep the attention of a distracted audience that is now anxiously awaiting the arrival of the General Vallejo and his family.
With the performance now completely disrupted, the actors stop and watch as the General launches a vicious racial attack upon Sam.