premise: Leaving the <mask> after the performance , I had a flash of intuition that life , after all ( as Rilke said ) , is just a search for the nonexistent cup of hot coffee , and that this unpretentious , moving , clever , bitter slice of life was the greatest thing to happen to the American <mask> since Brooks Atkinson retired .
hypothesis: the proper context for <mask> here should be a building where theatrical performances or motion-picture shows can be presented