I am afraid of drawing. I don’t know why. This play is set in a drawing class, and the audience is invited to sketch and doodle throughout. Now is the time to embrace my phobia.
I am welcomed by The Artist (Leo MacNeill), a reassuring presence. “We are all artists”, he says. I am given paper and pencils, but no eraser. Every mark we make remains on the page.
Estelle (Maria MacDonell, who also wrote the piece) cuts through The Artist’s whimsy with a shard of cynicism, at least to begin with. She thinks he’s pretentious. The Artist helps Estelle open up, and she tells us about her life, her hopes and regrets, her love of graveyards and her career as an artist’s model. Estelle tells her story through the medium of folk tales. Afterwards, MacDonnell tells me that Estelle is so damaged by life that she can only express herself in this way. That is what folk tales are for.
We learn all about Estelle, but what of The Artist? Who is this patient man, who carries wisdom and sorrow in equal measure, and who has the uncanny ability to read Estelle’s inner thoughts?
The play is beautifully written and invites curiosity. We hear about creativity as rebellion, the male gaze in art (“He was terrified of the freedom in my eyes, so he painted submission”), and above all, the uncomfortable truth of mortality. Estelle is no passive muse – she declares her reality through speech and movement, with her silklike gown, from Glasgow designer Macfin, flowing with her.
As I watched the show, I drew. I mostly drew Estelle’s face. Sometimes the lighting over the audience went out, but I kept drawing, forced to observe the model rather than obsessing over what my work looked like. The Artist gives gentle encouragement. I write the odd quote beside my sketches. Normally when I review, I write far too many notes, but today I can’t.
I don’t know if my sketches look like Estelle, or MacDonnell, but many of them look like faces. I want to draw again. I think I will go and see this play again, and I think you should go and see it too.
Reviewer: Wendy McEwan
Reviewed: 8th August 2024
North West End UK Rating: