Naked Lady
Venue 27 Sugar Swing Upstairs
4 Stars
If you enjoy productions with a tinge of horror and dark magic, check out Naked Lady. While it is about an artist who accepts a commission to paint a portrait of a naked woman, the play is not a sex story.
St. Albert playwright Scott Bourgeoise’s adapted this play from one of Mindret Lord’s short stories. The first scene takes us to the home of an eccentric, wealthy millionaire. Jeremiah, a feeble old man sits in an expensive wing-back chair. His beautiful, but spiteful younger wife, Marion, is packing her bags and leaving him. He begs her to stay. She refuses.
In an act of bitter revenge, Jeremiah hires Gilda, a nude model who is his wife’s perfect look alike. He also hires an unknown visual artist, Pierre, and gives him specific instructions on how he wants the painting created.
As Gilda and Pierre spend time together creating a painting of a nude woman, they develop a respectful friendship and gradually fall in love. But always in the background is the spectre of something horrible about to happen.
And it does. But at the end, there is a sleight-of-hand turn that is impossible to predict yet fits neatly into the plot and ties up the mystery with a bow. This is one production that will keep you guessing right up until the last line.
