If my eyes were bleary after a nearly seven-hour graveyard shift watching The Second Woman, I can only imagine how Ruth Wilson must have felt after her 24-hour endurance feat.
For the audience it was a marathon enough. When I arrived I was worried. Even as a theater fan, I feared it would be endless watching Wilson act out a seven-minute scene about a couple’s breakup 100 times with 100 different co-stars (most of whom weren’t even actors).
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The plot is simple: Wilson’s character Virginia asks her partner Marty for confirmation that he still thinks she’s beautiful after a fight. She throws her takeaway Chinese noodles at him. The pair dance to the awfully catchy Aura song Taste Of Love (I’ll be humming it for days).
I can only imagine how Ruth Wilson must have felt after her 24 hour endurance effort
Wilson eventually pays him £20 and tells him to leave. Then the next man appears and so on.
After half an hour I was so familiar with the scene that even the smallest change was exciting to perceive.
Even at 7 a.m., 15 hours into her performance, Wilson found interesting new ways to do the same. From the way she placed her hands while waiting for her new co-star to appear, to the way she ate her takeout (I don’t think she’ll ever want to eat pasta again) she was hypnotic When the crowd died down, famous faces like Idris Elba, Strike star Tom Burke (circa 1am), Aidan Gillen from Game Of Thrones (circa 3.30am) and Ben Whishaw from James Bond (circa 4am) came along. .
It was a bit of a Netflix binge. You tell yourself, “Oh, just one more thing,” and before long the sun will rise. Despite the famous co-stars, Wilson, decked out in a velvety red dress and kitten heels, maintained her remarkable composure throughout.
Some men tried to take control of the scene. One rewrote the script by implying he was having an affair with her brother. Occasionally someone would refuse to say their last line “I love you” or “I never loved you” to own the scene. Wilson gave no sign of it – he put her firmly in her place.
When the crowd died down, famous faces like Idris Elba, Strike star Tom Burke (circa 1am), Aidan Gillen from Game Of Thrones (circa 3.30am) and Ben Whishaw from James Bond (pictured) came along.
In places it was uncomfortable. A man placed his hands on Wilson’s breasts. Another tried a little too hard to kiss her.
But since Wilson was such a feat, he wasn’t afraid to get touchy either. Especially with Whishaw, who got a slap on the butt. She rubbed another man’s nipples through his shirt.
The older men, whose age more closely resembled 41-year-old Wilson, often appeared more arrogant and overbearing than the younger participants. One young lad’s hands were shaking with stage fright and he kept glancing at Wilson comfortingly like a frightened schoolboy. Each performance drew on the audience’s reaction and heightened it when we found a skit particularly amusing. Hysterical, sleepless laughter abounded. I never wanted to finish some scenes.
Even at 7 a.m., 15 hours into her performance, Wilson found interesting new ways to do the same
Ruth Wilson and Andrew Scott appear in The Second Woman at the Young Vic
As the night wore on—I was there from 12:40 a.m. to 7:20 a.m.—and armed with coffee and croissants from the theater’s 24-hour bar, the audience cheered louder and louder to keep up the energy.
Every two hours we waited while Wilson had a 15-minute break to freshen up — and caffeine. She had imposed a two-week coffee ban before the show so it would have a better impact on the evening, and it seems to have worked.
At the end of each two-hour performance, her wig was disheveled and her pantyhose disheveled. But after every break she was recharged and back for more. Every time a co-star suggested they were tired, she gave them a dirty look, much to the delight of the audience.
At 6:30 a.m., she slowed down and breathed more deeply, but her performance never slowed down.
After about 25 repetitions of the scene, I reluctantly pulled myself away, exhausted, groggy and slightly delirious.
After a short nap, I woke up feeling that Ruth Wilson’s theater marathon was one of the most magical productions London had seen in a long time.