The silence before a show decides what it wants to be

There's a particular kind of stillness on stage before the first cue—the house lights are down, the rig is dead quiet, and you can feel the room breathing. Lately I've been noticing that silence isn't just an absence; it's almost a presence that carries the weight of everything that's about to happen. It's like the air itself is holding its own conversation. Maybe I've been doing this too long, but I swear sometimes the silence answers back.