An impressive surface
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A small performance group asked Juno to revise its promotional video. The narrator's borrowed accent sounded like an affectation because it disappeared whenever he spoke informally between takes. The script was bombastic, describing a modest evening of sketches as a moment that would transform the course of theater. Together, those choices created a facade of grandeur that had little connection to the lively, unpretentious show the group had actually rehearsed for its audience.
Juno suggested dropping the affectation and letting the narrator speak in his ordinary voice. She replaced the most bombastic claims with a clear account of the evening's scenes, performers, and tone. The group did not need a facade of importance to make its work worth seeing. A rehearsal clip showing the actors respond to one another gave potential visitors a more useful impression than another sentence declaring the event unlike anything ever attempted before.
Before you move on
Look away from the passage. Can you explain each focus word in your own words?
Original fictional passages for vocabulary practice.