During act 4 of King Lear at Toronto’s Elgin Theatre, famous actor Arthur Leander (playing Lear) falters mid-scene, delivers incorrect lines, and collapses. Jeevan Chaudhary, an audience member training to be a paramedic, recognizes the distress, pushes past ushers, climbs onto the stage through falling plastic “snow,” and catches Arthur as he loses consciousness.

Arthur isn’t breathing and has no heartbeat, so Jeevan begins CPR. The curtain drops, isolating the stage from the audience, and cardiologist Walter Jacobi joins Jeevan, confirming the emergency and helping take over compressions while they wait for an ambulance.

Medics arrive and attempt resuscitation with a defibrillator, but Arthur remains motionless. Walter calls the time of death at 9:14 p.m., though the medics continue performing procedures as if Arthur might survive, a decency meant to prevent his family from learning the truth through the news.

Amid backstage chaos, Jeevan notices Kirsten Raymonde, a small child actor from the production, left sobbing near the action. He tries to shield her from the sight, asks where her mother and wrangler are, and leads Kirsten into the wings to find “Tanya,” but they cannot locate her. Jeevan sits with Kirsten and tries to comfort her by saying that if Arthur died, he died doing what he loved; Kirsten admits acting is what she loves most too, before a tear-streaked young woman finally collects her.

Jeevan searches the emptied lobby for his girlfriend, Laura, but she has already left. Outside, paparazzi crowd him for details; Jeevan avoids them and walks home through real snow, feeling guiltily alive and newly certain he wants to become a paramedic because he wants to be the one who steps forward in emergencies. The exhilaration collapses when Laura texts that she went home with a headache and asks him to pick up milk; angry and unsure what he’ll say, Jeevan turns into a quiet park to be alone and decide what to do next.