Sue MacLaine Brings STILL LIFE to Theatre Arts Admin Collective, 27-28 October

Watch, listen and draw as Henrietta Moraes, the notorious muse to Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and later Maggi Hambling, relates her life story in the award-winning one-woman play STILL LIFE: AN AUDIENCE WITH HENRIETTA MORAES.

In STILL LIFE, Sue MacLaine captures the characteristic wit and candour of life model Moraes, telling stories from her life and recreating poses from her illustrious career. As the performance progresses, the line between subject and object, artist and model, public and private, blurs - the gallery alternating between performance space and life drawing class as the audience is invited to draw. Through drawing and listening, the audience engages in looking - and ultimately seeing beyond - the naked female form to the woman within.

Moraes led an itinerant and rackety life that was sustained by the tolerance of friends, oiled by alcohol and fuelled by an astonishing variety of drugs. Her obituary in The Guardian, after her death in 1999, gave her profession as "bohemian" and she was unofficially known as the uncrowned Queen of 1950s Soho. Maclaine's portrayal of Moraes won Most Ground Breaking Event at the Brighton Festival Fringe Awards 2011, and was nominated for a Total Theatre Award in 2012.

MacLaine's visit to Cape Town has been made possible by the Artists International Development Fund (Arts Council England and British Council). STILL LIFE forms part of a 3 week residency that MacLaine is spending at the Theatre Arts Admin Collective, researching for her new play, CAN WE START AGAIN, PLEASE? MacLaine shared the following insights on bringing Moraes to life on stage:

When I originally read Henrietta's obituary I was intrigued by two things, first her occupation being given as 'Bohemian' and secondly by the disjuncture between the photographs of her younger and older self. On reading her autobiography I began to think about the dynamic relationship between artist and model. I wondered - if someone cannot inhabit their own life, does the artist's portrayal of the person fill the gap?

Performances of STILL LIFE take place at 8pm on 26 and 27 October, with tickets costing R50 each. Booking, through the Theatre Arts Admin Collective website, is essential as there are only 30 seats per performance. The play carries an age restriction of 16N.

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