Characters

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The Actress
In the heart of her forties, the Actress remains unnamed yet unforgettable, exuding boldness and allure with an unyielding presence that few can rival throughout the play. While others falter before those who dismantle their defenses, she alone stands victorious, wielding an uncanny ability to embrace the flaws lurking within human souls and tangled relationships. In a charged meeting with The Playwright, she scorns his literary flair and penchant for elaborate prose. Feigning Catholic virtue, she entwines him into her embrace, engaging in a passionate dance that blurs naughtiness with niceness, leaving even the seasoned Playwright unable to decipher her genuine motives. Later, her interactions with the Aristocrat reveal a more earnest side, tinged with wisdom. Aware of his other romantic entanglements, she sees through his feigned modesty and, despite the inevitable doom of their bond, urges him to press forward. "We’re alive!" she declares, championing life’s experiences as the true school of learning.

AntonSee The Student

The Aristocrat
Meet Malcolm, The Aristocrat, a man of thirty-some years, whose affluence stems from his family’s sprawling farming estate. His persona is a cocktail of aristocratic virtues and vices: astute yet inarticulate, well-meaning but self-deceptive, refined yet as primal as any of the other men. "My life is a search . . . for a love which stays real," he confides to The Actress, amidst the shadows of her dressing room. Though his quest for love is noble, he’s easily led astray, suggesting they delay their rendezvous for a more suitable setting. Yet, The Actress effortlessly draws him into intimacy within that very room. The Aristocrat occasionally stumbles upon genuine insights, articulating one of the play’s central themes: everyone wears different masks with different people, constantly evolving with time. Despite his aspirations for integrity and honesty, a darker side lurks within. In the final act, he awakens from a drunken night with a prostitute, his memory hazy, clinging to hope that nothing happened. When reality intrudes, his philosophical self emerges once again. "On we go," he muses.

The Au Pair
Marie, the foreign Au Pair, tends to a family and their children, though her own origins remain a mystery. Her encounter with Fred, The Cab Driver, begins with a rejection of his advances despite the compromised setting of a dim storage closet. To reconcile her actions, she allows him intimacy only after he assures her of its significance. Pretending to be deceived, she indulges in a fleeting moment of guilty pleasure. Post-encounter, she attempts to depart first but ends up lingering with Fred, sharing beer and listening to the distant rhythm of the dance.

At home, Marie finds herself no more in charge than at the dance. Whether to secure her livelihood or out of a lack of self-respect, she endures the scorn of The Student, allowing him the same liberties as Fred.

The Cab Driver
Fred, the elusive Cab Driver, is astute, self-serving, and driven by business. He shows interest in the park's prostitute, casually strolling past The Girl with feigned indifference, waiting for her to initiate. He deflects any notions of personal connection beyond a fleeting tryst, warning The Girl of the danger of jealousy because "I'm irresistible. Women can't resist me." Only when assured of no payment does he agree to the act, hastily completing it before returning to work.

Yet, his encounter with The Au Pair shifts in tone. Here, he is gentler, though still not entirely sincere. Their union unfolds more leisurely, mutually satisfying. Afterward, he lingers, inviting her to remain with him for a while longer, awkwardly navigating his newfound interest in her...

(This entire section contains 1634 words.)

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as a person.

CharlieSee The Politician

EmmaSee The Married Woman

FredSee Cab Driver

The Girl
Introducing Irene, a teenage novice in the world’s oldest profession. Clad in a short, black leather skirt and heels, she plays her part, perched on a park bench with a cigarette, ready to ensnare a wandering gaze. Bold and audacious, she operates without demanding payment, either to attract clientele or due to her inexperience. The Cab Driver's surprise is brief when she dismisses the need for payment, yet post-encounter, she demands her fee. Undeterred by rejection, she remains undaunted. "I'll be here tomorrow," she asserts, unwavering in her resolve.

She vanishes, only to re-emerge as the curtain falls. A year has slipped by, and Irene has been earning her living in a dimly lit chamber perched above a bustling city sex shop. Her last evening was spent in the company of The Aristocrat, to whom she confessed that Fred, the cab driver from the first scene, has proposed marriage, though she continues to hold him at bay. Despite the trials of the past year, her heart remains tender, and she extends her empathy towards The Aristocrat, who now views their shared night with a tinge of regret.

Characters

IreneSee The Girl

KellySee The Model

MalcolmSee The Aristocrat

MarieSee The Au Pair

The Married Woman

The Married Woman, Emma, finds herself in her thirties, wed to Charlie, a politician of prominence, for over eight years. Their love story began in Venice, where they indulged in weeks of untamed, passionate romance. Now, their marriage and Charlie's political aspirations have altered the warmth that once defined their bond. Sharing a room but not a bed, they connect only through sporadic intimacy. Charlie is perennially occupied, and Emma yearns for the fervor they once shared.

Seeking to rekindle the spark that once ignited with Charlie, The Married Woman embarks on a liaison with The Student, the youthful offspring of family friends. In this affair, she sheds her compliant nature, asserting herself with thrilling authority.

The Model

The Model, known as Kelly, is a character of intriguing contradictions. As a model, one might expect her to exude elegance, yet she confides, "If you’re a model, you have to look awful. That’s the job." Only seventeen and having traveled abroad with her mother and sisters, she has yet to achieve the success needed for a life of opulence, or even independence. Despite this, she finds men eager to lavish her with such luxuries. The Model is entangled in substance abuse, seemingly addicted to cocaine, and matches The Politician's wit during their tryst. She casually informs him that his wife likely shares his infidelities. Though she resists commitment, she accepts The Politician’s offer of an apartment and a stipend as his mistress, all while continuing her dalliance with others. She accompanies The Playwright home, oblivious to his fame and wealth, drawn to his serenade and their shared intimacy, flattered by his perhaps disingenuous praise.

Robert PhetheanSee The Playwright

The Playwright

Robert Phethean, a renowned playwright in his early thirties, embodies both financial triumph and eccentricity. His writing studio, a treasure trove of books, scripts, and CDs, features a piano lurking in the shadows. Only candlelight illuminates his space, a "magical" ambiance he discovered during a blackout. The Playwright might serve as the voice of David Hare, the real author of The Blue Room, a possibility left deliberately ambiguous.

The Playwright derides academics who pigeonhole him into terms like "postromantic," and dismisses the notion that journalists qualify as "writers." He performs a song, supposedly his, for The Model, but shrewdly evades questions about its true creator. His linguistic prowess serves him well, allowing him to impress, jest, and engage with his female admirers. Yet, when he encounters The Actress at an isolated hotel, she mocks him mercilessly. Despite her scorn for his writing, wit, and hubris, his attraction to her is undeniable. In the end, The Playwright is left as bewildered by The Actress as The Model was by him.

The Politician

Charlie, forever entrenched in his work, is a prominent politician who juggles three cell phones and must organize time with his family. His past is marked by youthful affairs, one with a married woman. In midlife, he professes devotion solely to The Married Woman, viewing his family as his anchor and salvation. Their initial encounter in Venice blossomed into a whirlwind romance before settling into a safer, more mundane life, one that Charlie believes is grounded beyond the physical. Their bedroom, symbolic of this transition, holds separate beds, joined exclusively for rare moments of intimacy.

Meanwhile, The Politician spirals into a haze of drugs and begins a scandalous affair with The Model, a seventeen-year-old grappling with a cocaine addiction. After a wild coupling lasting two hours, Charlie proposes to secure an apartment for The Model, offering financial support and expecting her to be at his beck and call for intimate encounters. He calls it "a life of your own," pondering, "Isn't that what women want?"

The Student

Meet The Student, Anton, a product of privilege, born to affluent parents. Following in his father's footsteps, he's entrenched in the study of law, having adopted the airs of aristocracy and imperial grandeur from an early age. At times, he is a tapestry of youthful folly and naïveté, yet he can also be fervent, idealistic, and strangely cultured. His initial scene with The Au Pair showcases his repugnant demeanor, as he imposes needless, belittling demands upon the family's foreign servant, operating under the presumption that pleasing him sexually is merely part of her duties.

However, when paired with The Married Woman, Anton encounters a formidable challenge. Emma, an acquaintance of his parents, becomes the object of his attempts at worldliness and allure, but his efforts only partially succeed. Her interest in him stems not from his sophistication, but from a purely carnal curiosity. In his nervousness before this commanding older woman, Anton is unable to perform, prompting Emma to take control and ignite passion within him. Captivated and in love, he finds himself simultaneously childish and boastful of having enticed a married woman.

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