The Old Vic Theatre in London is currently running a production of Sweet Bird of Youth. Though as a live production, it has no true previews, I found this interview because I thought it would be interesting insight into how the actors themselves interpret the play.
Interesting. From the get-go, Kim Cattrall seems to have fused with her character of the Princess Kosmonopolis, or Alexandra Del Lago if you prefer, speaking in first person: "I made the choice to fall in love with him...because I realized he was as broken as I was." Perhaps this issue of identity stems from the fact that as an aging, ex-Hollywood star, Cattrall very well could be the Princess, which she herself acknowledges. That's helpful, though, because by the Transitive Property of Impersonation we also hear the voice of the Princess Kosmonopolis, which I felt sometimes Chance smothered.
I think the Princess is lonely. How often she clings to Chance, even expressly asking him, "don't leave me alone," (although he inevitably does). And as Cattrall notes (still in first person), even if it were a fantasy, she sees that "[Chance and the Princess] could...have a relationship of sorts." The Princess is dying for some kind of connection--which is where her addictions come in, for drugs remove her to some other world where she cannot feel the pangs of loneliness, and sex makes her feel intimately connected, even if only with strangers.
But is this really actually loneliness? Or is it just that for the first time she notices the disparity between extreme fame and anonymity, as misses that fame as though it were her friend, her family, her lover and her whole world? Her description of her fame near the end of the play proves the latter true: "Out of the passion and torment of my existence I have created a thing that I can unveil, a sculpture, almost heroic, that I can unveil, which is true" (120). Not only is fame near and dear to her heart, but it is her idol; she admires it like Narcissus in the Greek myths as "almost heroic." Despite the Princess' self-appreciation, though, fame still takes a crowd. What she is truly missing is an audience whom she can dazzle into adoring her.
So it makes sense to me that Cattrall imagines those three lapsed hours to be full of posturing foreplay, for it would cater for the Princess' desire for an audience. However, I don't see evidence that Chance is an easily enraptured sycophant, so I'd be curious to know more of Seth Numrich's interpretation of the dynamic between the Princess and Chance.
-Becca Weber
Becca,
ReplyDeleteI actually saw this production in July. I'd never have known from their performances how much thought they say they put into it (i.e. they were passable, but not excellent, and the supporting cast was horrrrrrrrrible).