He continues to look at her, in the same posture, but now with a kind and inviting smile. But after a few moments that smile suddenly changes back to a wry grin. He hisses, ‘Do it, whore!’
We see the actress turn her gaze inward. She seems to be transferring into her role. She straightens her back and stands proudly on the stage. She is present now. A good actress after all.
Juliette puts her red pumps to one side, slowly and carefully. Her movements are assured, loose and fluid.
She stares into the distance, over the imaginary heads in the hall. With her fingers, she combs her hair back. (Oh, what beauty!)
Then her hands go to her back. We hear her open the zip of her wet white dress. The dress does not drop down; the fabric still clings to her body. She has to tear it off her body, as if it were made of rubber. Her naked chest is visible first, but she is not coy; she works hard to separate the dress from her torso. Finally, she shakes the dress off her hips and steps out. Between her full nudity and the spectator (the director, and us…) there are now only her white underpants, a simple, tasteful white pair. The garment is wet too and follows the outline of her labia majora. Left and right she grabs the elastic, pushes it down her hips, steps out of the panties – and there, behold… she is naked.
Copain quickly assumes the role of a stagehand, swiftly picks up the shoes, the wet underpants and the dress. Leaves them to dry on a chair.
Well, let’s pause a moment…
The actress is beautiful indeed. No question. Her features are delicate. Her dark hair may be uncombed, but that suits her naturally free charisma, which after her hesitant start is gradually coming to the surface. Her young breasts are at their peak, B or C, we’re not sure, pouting, delicate pink areolas. Her dark pubic hair is neatly shaven in her groin and around her labia. So, these intimate lips are easy to see. On the triangle of her mound of Venus, the hair is quite long. Fingers could easily grab it, pull it…
Copain has been watching her all this time, shamelessly, eating her up with his eyes, as it were. Is he playing a role? That of a director, that of a master? Or does he play – is he – himself?
‘Thank you, Juliette. I enjoyed you. But I behaved, didn’t I?’
Juliette – as herself? – now nods, shyly again. She is not sure.
‘Now we are where we need to be. We got there in the end and we can get to the play.
‘You will be naked all the time, as I said. I’m still debating whether to add a scene in which you become a slave, in which you accept your master’s command to humiliate yourself and undress in front of him. That would be a nice, quiet core scene. But I don’t know if I want to give the audience the pleasure of a striptease. Too theatrical, funnily enough. I want rawness, absolutely no titillation.
‘One issue I’m still thinking about is that of your pubic hair. I didn’t know if you wore any, shall we say. Many women your age shave it. Most, perhaps. For a long time, I would have said, get rid of it, I like the naked sex. But personally, I have changed my mind. Provided it’s well kept. Yours is well kept and isn’t — could be trimmed a bit. But, pubic hair… no more little-girl stuff, and I like the tickle and also the smell during cunnilingus. If well cared for. One thing makes me hesitate. In the play you play a slave. I think they are usually shaved. What do you think?’
Juliette smiles shyly.
‘My pubic hair has never been considered so closely. Well, all right. Let’s get past the embarrassment. Some of my past boyfriends wanted a nude sex, others a natural look. So, at times I shaved it and at other times let it grow. I never had it lasered or anything, because I wanted to keep the option. And that’s good, because right now, like you, I’m on the side of the natural look. When I see girlfriends in the shower, I think the majority are bald, or just have a landing strip. But I think pubic hair is making a comeback. A slave girl, well, she has to be kept under… So, I guess, bald? I don’t know. It’s up to you. As for me personally, since I broke up with my latest boyfriend, I let it go. For the audition, I just made it neat.’
‘Good on you… As if you knew you’d naked. I like women who expect the unexpected.’
‘Expect the unexpected, you have to, don’t you, in this line of business? Truth be told, I didn’t anticipate on showing it at all. I did it just for myself. A woman does that, just like we wear nice underwear on occasion, even if we don’t anticipate it being seen.’
Copain listens with interest.
‘Thank you, Juliette, for your frank explanation. I am fine with your hair as it is, though we’ll decide before the opening.
‘As to my appreciation of pubic hair, I have discussed the choices with actresses and also with my wives. Once, in one of my plays, a horror drama, I had a role whom the script called upon to remove every hair on her body. That’s how the writer wanted it. But even I thought it was going too far, let alone the actress. A beautiful woman of around thirty was cast in the role, with the most beautiful wavy brown hair you can imagine, beautiful eyebrows, dense pubic hair, the lot. For the writer, it was certainly a fetish, but still he managed to convince the actress that it was necessary for the play. And as compensation he would do it himself, he promised, in her presence. Just imagine: he had an excessive afro and large beard and was said to be quite hairy everywhere. She bucked and they did it together, in each other’s presence, with each other’s help, with me there as witness. It was extremely exciting to see the man and the woman undress and strip each other of every hair. Can you imagine! Every single hair!! When done, they had both become unrecognisable. Super-naked and void. Theatre. They should have had a bigger audience doing this than just me. I should have written a piece about it, this extreme hair removal. Maybe I will still do. A piece of two, three hours, exactly as long as it actually took. The difficulty is, if I were to have people really shave each other’s heads during every performance, and how could it be otherwise, I would need a whole battery of actors… Maybe I can manage with young actors, straight from drama school, who want to work with me at any price. Food for thought. Are you interested? But never mind, I’m wandering off terribly. Their play was not a success, by the way. It had a run of five only. Much ado for nothing. But I enjoyed it.’