"Jodie's
Body"Written and performed by Aviva Jane Carlin
At the New ArcLight Theatre
Reviewed by David Roberts
When Jodie's mum told her at age thirteen that "we are not our bodies,
we only live in them" she knew she was giving her impressionable
young daughter a phrase, a thought, a truth that would empower Jodie for
the rest of her life. Jodie thought, as a teenager, that her mother was
just trying to appease her constant questioning. At that time, Jodie was
concerned about her weight and was asking her mother if she thought Jodie
was "too fat."
Jodie and her mother lived in South Africa and were part of the white
minority but not supportive of apartheid nor of the way it segregated
the races, oppressed black South Africans and separated black South African
families to further disenfranchise and oppress.
In "Jodie's Body" we meet the adult Jodie who is now a life
model for a group of artists in London. As she strikes several poses for
the class (which we only get to know through Jodie's eyes) we learn some
basics about her childhood in South Africa, her family and acquaintances
(many of them black South Africans, some family servants) her travels,
and her feelings about posing for George, Barry, Sherman and Isadora --
all of whom often keep her waiting in an uncomfortable nude pose while
they fidget and find their drawing tools. The most colorful of these is
George (who is away on this particular day) who "teaches" the
class and uses Jesus' name in conjunction with everyday activities when
he needs to make a point; for example: "Jesus paid his library fine!"
or "Jesus took the spider out of the bath!" During her break
from posing, Jodie robes and sits down and launches into the most wonderful
monologue about South Africa and apartheid and the strength of her mother
whose large framed and strong body once filled a door in their home and
prevented the white minority authorities from entering and arresting the
black South Africans who were protected there. When Jodie speaks of the
miracle of the first Free Elections, the audience feels her joy and sees
her joy as her beautiful eyes fill with tears.
The power of this one woman show is the performance given by Aviva Jane
Carlin and the almost perfect script she has written. "Jodie's Body"
is one of the most well crafted plays I have seen in this season. Carlin
"teases" the audience with "the miracle day" (First
Free Elections) but does not address the issue of apartheid until her
character takes a break during the "life drawing class" she
models for.
The genius of the performance and the play is how Carlin repeatedly uses
the metaphor of "body" and how one's sense of worth can be affected
by the not only the opinion of others but by their attempts to control
the body of another. The parallels with apartheid and South Africa are
subtle but obvious and the point at which the audience member experiences
the connection makes for a moment of sheer brilliance.
This very fine production is something for the New Mercury Players to
be proud of. With any luck (or justice) "Jodie's Body" will
have a long life in the New York area. I recommend it highly and hope
that visitors to the site will make every effort to see this wonderful
play.
Original production at the Gene
Frankel Theatre reviewed on Friday, May 15, 1998.
Re-opened at the New ArcLight Theatre on Wednesday, February 24, 1999.
JODIE'S BODY
Written and performed by Aviva Jane Carlin; directed by Kenneth Elliott;
set design by B. T. Whitehill; lighting design by Vivien Leone. Presented
by Julian Schlossberg, Gloria Steinem, William J. Repicci, Chris Groenewold,
and Meyer Ackerman at the New ArcLight Theatre, 152 West 71st Street between
Columbus Avenue and Broadway. Performance schedule is Tuesday through
Friday at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday at 3:00 and 8:00 p.m.; Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
All tickets are $35.00 and are available through Ticketmaster at (212)
307-4100 or by clicking on "Purchase Tickets" above.