Radley is a man trapped in a number of different worlds. He is a man that grew up the child of a genius painter father and a mother suffering from schizophrenia. When his father leaves him his mother obsesses over the dirty child that has brought this loneliness into her life. Radley was never the same. Her obsession became his and in short amount of time he became as obsessed as his mother was. Washing his hands until they bled, and viewing himself as dirty and worthless, but with this also became an obsession to create perfection which he manifest in his art work as well as his plastic surgeries. His artwork speaks to his obsession and it has made him famous. His obsession comes to a head when at his art gallery show his mother attends, not to support but to remind him that he is still, after all these years, nothing. In doing this the mutilation that Radley felt inside of him forces it’s way out. It is not until he is forced to look at himself for who he is, not who he believes she has made him, which he begins to heal. In the end we see a broken child grow into a broken man and realize that sometimes we don’t get a happy ever after because our mind won’t take us there.
Male- True Painter's Brush
$50.00Price
- (Radley stands staring at his hands for a moment. He examines them individually then side by side with each other. He then grabs a painters pad and begins painting. He flows with the brush almost as if he is doing a dance, it is magnificent to watch. He takes a step back, looks at his work in admiration then begins washing out the brushes, at different times throughout the performance Radley washes his hands, he has to.) "Cleanliness is next to Godliness. You will never be clean enough. You will never amount to anything Radley. Nothing. Good boys keep clean houses, bad boys keep dirty souls.” (Beat, he looks at the audience.) I must see red. Clean isn’t until I see the blood come to the surface of my skin, sometimes until it breaks through the skin. “Red is the color of pureness,” she would tell me. (He counts as he washes; it is not only necessary it is required.) One, two, three rinse. One, two three rinse… (He puts the brushes aside, dries his hands and finds himself lost in them again.) dirty, dirty hands. Hot water cleans dirty hands. (He scrubs and scrubs, turning the water to hot. He feels the heat but it does not stop him from scrubbing.) "Dirty hands for a dirty boy. Clean hands require steam. Let...them...burn... (His hands are burning from the heat. He pulls them out of the water, looks to the audience.) I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to be rude. Sometimes I get caught up in…my name is Radley. (Laughs) Not after To Kill A Mockingbird, but because it means “red meadow.” My father was an artist; a dreamer, and I took after him. A name fit for a painter.