Every year, Titus eagerly awaits the festival of Magna Mater, when the Romans celebrate the Great Mother goddess by performing comic plays. This year, Titus wakes up early—he doesn’t want his father and two sisters to leave for the festivities without him! They settle into good seats, hoping to watch a new play by Plautus. But when the actors reveal that they have lost the mask used for the most important character in the play, Titus wonders if the show will go on.