On Yellow Paper: It’s October. It’s dusk. It’s the second week of rehearsals for The Trojan Women, a modern version of Euripides’ tragedy in which I’m greedily playing three different roles: Cassandra, the maddened seer (a teenager in red-and-white striped long-johns); Andromache, trophy widow of the city’s most decorated soldier; and Helen of Troy, “the face that launched a thousand dicks”.
I’m standing in a dirty office in the old BBC training building on Marylebone High Street. There are dirty blue carpets on the floor and dirty great fluorescent tubes on the ceiling. There are six other people here. They’re all dressed; I’m in a bath towel that I’m about to let fall to the floor. Nobody knows yet, but I’m not wearing any knickers.
1 comment:
I loved reading this article and following Louise Brealey's path to overcoming her fear and growing as a woman and actress. Nudity on stage is always a very sensitive topic, and should be handled as so. Brealey's realization that she was able to turn her fear of being naked in public into a strength, placing her in a position of power, is an interesting exploration of what nudity means to oneself and in society. Brealey declares she wants to appear natural, not like some kind of unreal goddess; yet eventually, because she plays Helen of Troy who has to be the most beautiful woman there ever was, she somewhat fits her appearance to what a woman should ideally be according to today's societal standards. Now, is this simply part of her role, and therefore her duty as a performer, or does this show another facet of the issue? Beyond the idea of the taboo and the embarrassment of nudity, I think this article also makes a strong statement about society's expectation of women's beauty, a controversial topic that has often been examined, discussed and re-examined. All in all, I am simply glad I got to read such an personal and insightful article on one of the most sensitive issues in theater.
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