Frida Slattery As Herself by Ana Kinsella review â will-they-wonât-they in a skilful theatrical romance
This impressive and charismatic debut novel revisits an actor and a director over various collaborations The central characters of Frida Slattery As Herself, Ana Kinsellaâs
This impressive and charismatic debut novel revisits an actor and a director over various collaborations The central characters of Frida Slattery As Herself, Ana Kinsellaâs debut novel, are the eponymous Frida, 23 when the novel opens, and John Reddan, five years older. Both live in Dublin. Frida loves acting but has never had a significant role, and didnât even get into drama school. John is a writer-director who has just had a play put on at a âreal theatreâ.
Whatâs compelling about Frida is not necessarily what she says, thinks or does, but the way she is, and a large part of that lies in the physicality Kinsella writes into her. Frida, we learn, is âaddictedâ to the theatre. âEvery time she came off stage she felt like a prizefighter. The curtain fell in the community theatre and there she was, rolling her neck, bobbing on her feet.â However, Fridaâs acting aspirations are going nowhere.
She eventually confides in her friend Catherine, who at university was a much more successful actor in student productions, but now has a proper job (âShe owned an espresso machine and Frida lived in a bedsitâ). âI just want something to happen,â Frida says. Catherine introduces Frida to John. They meet in Kehoeâs pub, then he asks Frida to accompany him on an errand which turns into a long, mystifying walk through Dublin, during which he interviews her.
She asks in return what he is working on: âAre there any roles for women in their early twenties?â To which he responds, âIs that how you think of yourself, Frida? As nothing more than âa woman in her early twentiesâ?â Continue reading...
