Prepare Your First Night

The evening is composed. Your arrival should be too.

The week before. Confirm your dress (we have written about this), fit your mask, and read the Charter once more — not because you will be tested, but because knowing the architecture lets you stop thinking about it. If you are attending as a couple, have the conversation: what are we curious about, what is off the table tonight, how will we find each other at midnight. Couples who negotiate before the door enjoy the night roughly twice as much as couples who negotiate in a hallway.

The day of. Eat a real meal — the evening ONLY serves drinks at slow tempo. Arrive groomed as you would for the most important date of your year, because that is approximately what this is. Bring almost nothing: You’ll only need identification for the door

At the threshold. Your phone goes into a sealed pouch OF the coat check — this is not negotiable and within twenty minutes you will understand it as a gift. You will be greeted by name and someone whose role is precisely this will walk you in & answer any QUESTIONS.

Inside. There is no agenda you must follow. Watch the performance. Hold a drink. Have one conversation that begins differently than any conversation began earlier in your week. The first night is allowed to be only that — many members spent their entire first evening observing, and the room respects observation as a full way to attend. Nothing is owed. The night unfolds at the pace you set.

Afterward. Sleep late. Say nothing on the internet. What you keep private stays yours.