Summary

This chapter's dream sequence opener is Bechdel in her childhood home, watching her mother enter in period costume for a play she's going to be performing. She has sores on her skin, an allergic reaction to the jewelry she has to wear. She stops to pose before a grand mirror before Bechdel's alarm wakes her up. The words “drive,” “thwart,” and “laden” are stuck in her head when she awakens.

The author takes the reader on a tour of the many plays that her mother performed throughout her career. One show in particular is called “The Miser,” in which she plays an older mother figure who acts. She would become lost in plays, and the love of theater is something both women share.

Applying make-up for a role on stage is compared to applying make-up for everyday life. Her mother did both with the...