Witcher 3 the play’s the thing (The Play’s the Thing) is a main quest in Novigrad, where Geralt and Priscilla stage a play to lure out the hiding doppler Dudu. Dandelion is held by the witch hunters and you will not free him without Dudu. You go through the script, hiring guards, the performance on stage, and the talk backstage.
When the quest starts
The quest kicks in after Count Reuven’s Treasure and once you have finished Get Junior. Geralt already knows Dandelion vanished, Dudu is hiding in someone else’s skin, and the only lead to the bard runs through the doppler who shared the most trouble with him and Ciri.
The marker sends you to Priscilla at the cabaret Kingfisher in the north of the city. Priscilla sits in her venue and waits to see what is happening around Dandelion in Novigrad.
Script and preparing the play
With Priscilla you settle the title of the show and whether it will be comedy or drama. Priscilla writes the script around the story of a doppler Geralt saves so Dudu will recognize it and come to watch.
Once you have the finished text, go to the theatre in the south of Novigrad. You buy a ticket at the box office and at rehearsal you talk to Madame Irina. Explain why you need to put on this exact play and Irina asks you for two things: guards and proper promotion.
Guards and the Puffins
First head to the harbor on the west side of the city to the Beau brothers. You can pay them or beat them in a fistfight and convince them to guard for you more cheaply. Then find the Puffins who are supposed to hand out posters. At first they refuse because Rufus and his gang are threatening them.
Promise them help, go down the stairs, and deal with Rufus’s crew. Fistfight or open combat, you end up with dead or scared men either way and the Puffins promise to spread word of the play across Novigrad.
Go back to Irina, tell her you have security and promotion, and casting begins. Geralt ends up playing the witcher and you pick actors for the prince and princess. When Priscilla plays the princess and Abelard the prince, the show looks best.
Performance on stage
Irina starts the show and Geralt walks on stage in armor instead of a costume. During the play you pick lines from the script Priscilla gave you. The audience sits there, candles burn, and the play tells the story of rescuing a doppler.
Midway through Geralt spots Dudu in the crowd, who came dressed as city watch. He pulls him among the actors without the whole theatre exposing him, and the trap works.
After the performance you continue backstage. Dudu shifts back to his own form and Geralt asks him about Dandelion, Ciri, and what happened in Novigrad.
Plan for Dandelion
Dudu confirms the Cult of the Eternal Fire on Temple Isle is holding Dandelion. The only way to get him out is a fake order from witch hunter commander Caleb Menge. Menge is dead, so Dudu has to disguise himself as him and have the bard moved to Oxenfurt, where Geralt and Zoltan Chivay will free him.
Dudu agrees to help when Geralt convinces him, and that closes the quest. A Poet Under Pressure follows, where the plan finally plays out in practice.
Zoltan, Dudu, and Ciri
Zoltan Chivay is waiting backstage too. Once you have Dudu on hand he suggests Dudu turn into Ciri and show you what she looks like after all these years.
Geralt can agree or refuse. When Dudu takes Ciri’s form you do not see a sweet childhood memory. You see a hurt, scarred girl who went through hell and still wears what happened on her face. For Geralt it hits hard because he is searching for his daughter and suddenly stands face to face with her pain at full strength. Zoltan means well, but the moment is cruel and it stays with you for a long time.
Closing
The Play’s the Thing ties preparing the theatrical trap with the emotional scene with Dudu. Go through the Kingfisher, the theatre, the harbor, and the Puffins, stick to the script on stage, and backstage hear what the doppler knows about Dandelion. The quest pushes the Witcher 3 story toward rescuing the bard. More guides are on the Witcher 3 hub.