On a stage, under bright spotlights, with an invisible audience, are a pair of chairs - plush black velvet, in the shape of an upturned tophat, cut in half down the middle. The coffee table between the chairs has a white-tipped black cane, a slender dueling saber, a silver buffalo-headed nickle the size of a saucer, and a bejeweled golden cup full of what looks like rich, dark red wine.