In the Guardian style manual, they advice, that when referring to both male and female performers, the word actor should be used. It was felt, that the word actress was the equivalent of saying female doctor and suggested that acting was the profession of males. This made me wonder about the choice of the word 'actress' by Sleepwalk Collective. This was, after all, a piece about words and language, and signs and signfiers. The piece contained some clear feminine signifiers, Dorothy-esque sparkly red heals, a billowing frock, a woman placed on a pedestal, her long hair blowing around her. Her voice was also, soft and high and markedly feminine sounding as she whispered into her microphone throughout. This was a piece that contained many words but much more was being communicated beyond the text. This was Sleepwalk collective so everything on stage was beautifully lit, the words undercut by a slow, ominous soundtrack. Eventually the words projected on stage were smothered in emoticons, the actress lying facedown onstage, fallen from her pedestal still mumbling in the darkness. Was this to symbolise the breaking down of language, the failure of words to express what we feel in our hearts or something more sinister? Just like failing to understand how a lover feels, I'd need more than a language style manual to work that one out.
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