diff --git a/src/components/Dialogs.tsx b/src/components/Dialogs.tsx
index 1eb9f11..d85f9a0 100644
--- a/src/components/Dialogs.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Dialogs.tsx
@@ -82,7 +82,9 @@ export function Dialogs({
           </div>
           <div className="preview-stage">
             <PreviewFrame
+              autoFocus
               frameKey={`${selectedRun.id}-${selectedPhase}`}
+              onEscape={onClosePreview}
               scrolling="no"
               src={selectedPreviewPath}
               title={`${getRunTitle(selectedRun)} Phase ${selectedPhase} output`}
@@ -102,7 +104,7 @@ export function Dialogs({
             </div>
           </div>
           <div className="preview-stage">
-            <PreviewFrame scrolling="no" src="/previews/showcase/index.html" title="Showcase Nord Stage 4" />
+            <PreviewFrame autoFocus onEscape={onCloseShowcase} scrolling="no" src="/previews/showcase/index.html" title="Showcase Nord Stage 4" />
           </div>
         </div>
       )}
@@ -174,7 +176,7 @@ export function Dialogs({
               <button type="button" onClick={onCloseReport}>Close</button>
             </div>
           </div>
-          <PreviewFrame className="report-frame" src={selectedReport.reportPath} title={`${getRunTitle(selectedReport)} evaluation report`} />
+          <PreviewFrame className="report-frame" onEscape={onCloseReport} src={selectedReport.reportPath} title={`${getRunTitle(selectedReport)} evaluation report`} />
         </div>
       )}
     </>
diff --git a/src/components/PreviewFrame.tsx b/src/components/PreviewFrame.tsx
index dd2faf5..e99312c 100644
--- a/src/components/PreviewFrame.tsx
+++ b/src/components/PreviewFrame.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // The published-build iframe used by every preview and report overlay, with a
 // loading state and a load-failure fallback.
-import { useEffect, useState } from 'react'
+import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react'
+import type { SyntheticEvent } from 'react'
 
 // Backstop for the truly-opaque case (a cross-origin frame, or a server that
 // rejects HEAD): only fires while still loading. Generous enough that a
@@ -14,14 +15,65 @@ export function PreviewFrame({
   src,
   title,
   frameKey,
+  autoFocus,
+  onEscape,
 }: {
   className?: string
   scrolling?: 'no'
   src: string
   title: string
   frameKey?: string
+  /**
+   * Focus the iframe once its build loads, so previews that listen for
+   * computer-keyboard input on their own window (the showcase, candidate
+   * builds) are playable immediately — without a click inside the frame
+   * first. Real focus also means the keystrokes are trusted user activation
+   * inside the frame, which is what lets its AudioContext start.
+   */
+  autoFocus?: boolean
+  /**
+   * Called when Escape is pressed *inside* the frame. Once focus is in the
+   * iframe the parent window never sees the keydown, so same-origin previews
+   * get a listener attached to their content window; without this, Escape
+   * would silently stop closing the overlay.
+   */
+  onEscape?: () => void
 }) {
   const [state, setState] = useState<'loading' | 'ready' | 'error'>('loading')
+  // Latest-callback ref: the content-window listener is attached once per
+  // frame load, but Dialogs passes inline close handlers that change identity
+  // every render.
+  const onEscapeRef = useRef(onEscape)
+  onEscapeRef.current = onEscape
+
+  const handleFrameLoad = (event: SyntheticEvent<HTMLIFrameElement>) => {
+    // A 404/5xx body still fires onLoad, so never let a late load event
+    // overwrite the probe's error verdict.
+    setState((current) => (current === 'error' ? current : 'ready'))
+
+    const frame = event.currentTarget
+    try {
+      // Same-origin only (all previews are served under /previews and
+      // /reports); a cross-origin frame throws and gets skipped. Each
+      // navigation creates a fresh content window, so re-attach on every
+      // load — the old window (and its listener) is gone.
+      frame.contentWindow?.addEventListener('keydown', (keyEvent) => {
+        if (keyEvent.key !== 'Escape') return
+        // A preview that consumes Escape itself (the showcase's section-zoom
+        // dialog preventDefaults it to close just the zoom) keeps the outer
+        // overlay open — Escape peels one layer at a time. This listener runs
+        // before the preview's own (it registers at load, theirs later), so
+        // defer the verdict past the whole dispatch; setTimeout, not a
+        // microtask, since microtask checkpoints run between listeners.
+        setTimeout(() => {
+          if (!keyEvent.defaultPrevented) onEscapeRef.current?.()
+        }, 0)
+      })
+    } catch {
+      // Cross-origin frame: Escape inside it can't be observed.
+    }
+    if (autoFocus) frame.focus({ preventScroll: true })
+  }
 
   // Iframe error signaling is unreliable across origins, so a slow build must
   // not be mistaken for a broken one. Previews are served same-origin under
@@ -83,9 +135,7 @@ export function PreviewFrame({
             className={className}
             key={frameKey}
             onError={() => setState('error')}
-            // A 404/5xx body still fires onLoad, so never let a late load
-            // event overwrite the probe's error verdict.
-            onLoad={() => setState((current) => (current === 'error' ? current : 'ready'))}
+            onLoad={handleFrameLoad}
             scrolling={scrolling}
             src={src}
             title={title}