Charlotte Bydwell
Woman of Leisure and Panic
soloNOVA Arts Festival
By Lucy Butcher
It’s hard not to be endeared by the silvery-eyed, golden-haired, and statuesque Charlotte Bydwell as she freaks out over her life in her delightful, autobiographical one-woman show, Woman of Leisure and Panic, which made its world premiere at the soloNOVA Arts Festival.
A Canadian-born choreographer, dancer, and actress, and a dance graduate of the Juilliard School, Bydwell is captivating on stage as she portrays her struggle, in New York City, to be creative, pursue her performing arts career, make enough money to pay the rent, eat right and stay trim, spend time with family, and maintain some hint of a love life.
In the opening scene, to the strains of “Tara’s Theme” from Gone With the Wind, Bydwell, wearing a leotard, sneakers, and an enormous pale pink ball gown, sits with a wistful smile on her face and a dreamy look in her eyes. She floats over to her laptop, where she starts thinking out loud and comes to the conclusion that you can go from nobody to somebody with a single phone call. Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” kicks in, and she’s all pumped, dancing energetically like no one’s watching.
From there, Bydwell sweeps us up into her chaotic world where she’s at the mercy of her iPhone and her calendar for the month, which is laid out on a giant piece of butcher’s paper. Every time her phone rings, her planned creative and leisure time gets eroded as she frantically schedules in waitressing shifts, auditions, rehearsals, performances, and more workout sessions, until her calendar looks every bit as panicked as she does.
She accidentally ends a phone call with her boss by saying “love you,” does some frenzied mathematical calculations as she tries to figure out if she has any spare cash, and goes out on a dinner date where she obsesses over what to order, finally deciding on the lamb (“I’m a sucker for some braised meat”). Alarm bells ring, and she’s dragging herself across the floor and doing urgent sit-ups; she’s up late texting her date when she should be getting her nine hours’ beauty sleep.
In Leisure and Panic, Bydwell proves that she’s as much an actress and comedian as she is a dancer. In one of the most brilliant scenes, she’s feeling all motivated as she heads home on the train to the beat of the Jay-Z song. When a train delay announcement is made, her body language changes completely. With slouched shoulders, she shuffles along with a miserable look on her face, clearly not feeling the lyrics: “These streets will make you feel brand new; the lights will inspire you.” It’s funny stuff.
Bydwell is a natural, compelling storyteller and a very personable, genuine, all-around performer. Her portrayed quest for a balanced, or at least somewhat sane, existence is easy to relate to — and it’s always entertaining. After 40 minutes of highs and lows, she’s eventually consumed, quite literally, by her schedule as she makes a rushed trip to the beach, her calendar following her like a wedding gown train. Leisure and Panic is an impressive first full-length solo creation, and Bydwell is one to watch.
Woman of Leisure and Panic; Created, choreographed and performed by Charlotte Bydwell; Dramaturgy by Carlyle Eckert; Costume design by Erica Evans; 9th Space, 150 First Avenue. www.9thspace.org.
— Review published by Show Business.
