A toast to the nation, a toast to culture, a toast to the beautiful facade! All of Copenhagen is drowning in a frenzy of ostentation and glory. In this bitterly ironic novel set in the founding era, Herman Bang takes aim at the delusions of grandeur of a hopelessly self-absorbed, thoroughly theatrical world. The new generation is young, dynamic, successful - brilliant, of course. Herluf Berg, an aspiring journalist, finds himself on the sidelines. Salvation comes when he is offered the position of co-director at the newly established Victoria Theatre - the prestige project of the bourgeoisie against the backdrop of inflated dreams of Copenhagen as a world city. Without hesitation, he throws himself into the mercurial hustle and bustle. Yet, the plaster and cheap embellishments only barely conceal the agonizing emptiness. In no time, Berg realizes that the world of theater is no less banal, commercialized, and corrupted by fraud than his own.