Zawe Ashton - Character Breakdown

Zawe Ashton is an actress, playwright and director who started acting at the age of six. Her portrayal of Vod in Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrongs Fresh Meat won her a cult following and the diversity of her work across television, film and stage has attracted numerous accolades. Recent credits include the BBC/Netflix TV series Wanderlust, the Netflix feature film Velvet Buzzsaw and Betrayal at the Harold Pinter Theatre. Her play for all those women who thought they were Mad will be staged for the first time this year. She lives in London.

For
Auntie S and Auntie R

This is a work of fiction.

But mostly fact.

No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings or products is intended or should be inferred.

No person or entity associated with this story received payment or anything of value, or entered into any agreement.

No animals were harmed.

Roll up, roll up! The circus is in town! See the elephants fly, trapeze artists conquer death-defying feats and of course the den of freaks. The real star of our show, ladies and gentlemen and back by the most popular demand Lana the Lady of Many Adjectives! Yes, look amazed, for she is what makes our circus truly great! Known as The Human Chameleon in some of our native constituencies, La Dame de beaucoup de couleurs in Paris of course, Oku no keiyoshi no josei in Hong Kong, and mwanamke vivumishiwengi to our friends in the Swahili-speaking nations of the African continent. Shes a sight to behold, and for those of you returning, well, how she will amaze even on a second, third, fourth viewing! Behold how she shapeshifts from one recognisable form to another, ladies and gentlemen! So seamlessly does she transform, many have questioned whether it is white magic. But like her colleague and good friend, and second-most popular act in the den of freaks, my good people, Bonnie the Bearded Lady yes, another cheer for our bearded princess! What a gal! What a gal much like Bonnie, this is something our precious chameleon was born to, a gift from the high and powerful! We have it here on these humble shores to wow you with today.

I joined this circus as a boy, ladies and gentlemen. Ive seen all there is to see. Theres not a freak I havent witnessed up close. Mottle and Modrigal, the conjoined twins with a passion for yodelling, left on our doorstep in a wicker basket with a note that read Do as God would bid. We gave those girl-children a second chance at life under this big top. Yes, roll right up, get nice and warm now, ladies and gentlemen, huddle together, as I tell you the story of Ariel the mermaid rescued from the wreckage of a washed-up trawler. We found her gasping for air among the bodies of good men and brought her here. It was the happiest of coincidences that we had the human-sized tank for Klaus the Krusaders pirate escape trick in the back of our wagon! Ill never forget the gasp she gave when she plunged into that water, ladies and gents. Never trust a mermaid! people warned. Shes a special part of our family and was our most unique freak act Until now. I wouldnt be lying when I said that Lady Lana of many colours, many names, many skins, is the most special, most unique of all the lady freaks weve had here. Ever. None have moved me, ladies and gentlemen, like the spectacle of Lana. Thats it, huddle together, Cammy the Contortionist will put your pounds in the glass jar. Youll see her do something else entirely with that very jar in just a little whiles time. Whoa-ho! That very jar!

The illumination, folks, that Lana has provided us with since she joined our merry band, is like nothing Ive experienced in the circus before. Theres no one performance the same. And how our paths came to cross is no less exceptional than any of my other girl freaks. Driving through the desert one night, a sandstorm kicked up, so thick I stopped the wagon. No show is so important as the safety of my flock. I threw my voice back as far as it would go, hoping the message to bed down for the night would travel. I hurled my voice into the wind until it was hoarse and still no reply. A grave worry came over me. I gave one more call that took so much strength, ladies and gents, I nearly passed out and loosed my mare from her harness! Suddenly, through the whistling of the wind, I heard a voice it carried on the moving sand. But when it reached my ear, I discovered to my horror it was my echo. My own voice thrown back at my wagon! Well, this was most curious as the land was flat. There were no mountains, valleys or even anthills for my voice to bounce off. My fear was that Echo, that ungodly sprite, might have hitched herself to our wagon causing all types of her usual chaos! My troupe are fragile folks.

I jumped from my wagon, tying the filly to a cactus, my scarf about my eyes in case the sand blasted them from their sockets. It was a night sent from Lucifers hand to test us. I went in search of the other wagons. As I walked, hands to the wind, I began to make out a figure approaching. Echo, you little nymph, release us from this havoc! There was no answer. Slowly, it seemed to me that this figure wasnt that of a sprite, but that of a man. Straining my eyes even more, trying to identify the oncoming figure, I cried out again. Echo? My voice bounced back. Damn you, Echo! You know there aint any room for you in this here troupe! Your mischief has no place here. Now let us alone so we can sleep off this storm! No sooner had the words left my mouth, the figure that had been silhouetted in the dust was as close as the tip of the nose on my face. Nothing could have prepared me for what happened next, the most extraordinary encounter I can commit to record, ladies and gentlemen. Just as I had been communicating with a voice that was a dead ringer for my own, I was now face-to-face with my own image. The face, hands, hair, body, clothes were mine. A true reflection. Convinced the lack of food and water had finally done me in, I took the doppelgnger to be a powerful mirage and resolved to find the rest of the wagons. At that moment, our very own Bonnie the Bearded Lady appeared through the sand. She called out to me and no sooner had she opened her mouth than it rang out in an echo exactly as before. No sooner had the echo resounded, the vision I had dismissed shapeshifted into a true likeness of Bonnie in front of our eyes. Her face, her body, her beard, her torn dress, her voice reflected exactement! Ladies and gentleman, as someone party to my grand share of illusions over time, this was the most accomplished act of any I had ever seen. Bonnie cried out, her nerves shot as mine had been moments before. More of our troupe emerged through the fog, responding to Bonnies blood-curdling cry. And as quickly as each one came, was as quickly as the creature changed. Klaus the Krusader the creature took on his exact form, Polly the parrot to boot! Strong Man fell to his knees when the creature took on his curly moustache, the tattoo of his mother over his heart. The screams and hollers of disbelief kept every circus girl and boy coming to the place and there wasnt a clown, sideshow act or animal that it couldnt emulate. As those who had fainted were brought about with smelling potions, the sand still swirling through us, I took my moment, grabbing the creature by the shoulders