The Second Woman

The Second Woman is a 24-hour performance in which a female-identifying performer repeats a single scene 100 times with 100 men ranging in age, background and acting ability. The scene involves a couple negotiating a long-term relationship that has lost its creativity, romance and vitality. 

The scene is shot on digital video, edited live and presented on a screen adjacent to the performance. While the stage offers a wide view of the action, the screen exhibits closeups of the performers, giving the audience access to the minute shifts in emotional expression. An audience member can watch the stage only, the screen only, or self-edit between the filmed and the live.

The Second Woman takes as its starting point the idea that emotions and identities are culturally and historically specific, and that gender identities are defined by, and produced through, emotional cultures and norms. Taking gender, as a particular relation to cultural power and privilege, as its focus, The Second Woman explores the ways in which gender privilege and power expresses itself through feeling.

CREDITS

Co-creators Nat Randall & Anna Breckon

Performed in London, UK (2023) by Ruth Wilson
Performed in New York, USA (2019) by Alia Shawkat
Performed in Toronto, Canada (2019) by Laara Sadiq
Performed in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (2018) by Zhu Zhi-Ying
Originally performed in Australia (2016-2019) by Nat Randall

Video Direction EO Gill & Anna Breckon
Camera Operation EO Gill
Lighting Design Amber Silk & Kayla Burrett
Sound Composition Nina Buchanan
Set Design FUTURE METHOD STUDIO
Original Hair & Makeup Design Sophie Roberts