Anna Friel

Anna Friel Instagram – Anna Friel as Lulu. 2001. Oil on linen. I was approached by Director Jonathan Kent in 2001 to make a painting of British Actor Anna Friel to be used onstage during the Almeida theatre production of Frank Wedekind’s Lulu. It was exciting to have the opportunity to make something for a stage production. I am really a frustrated actor and should give up this painting lark and hit the boards. So I love any opportunity to immersive myself in a theatrical experience. The play Lulu (1892-1895) is about a kind of femme fatale character who is considered variously as representing the demonic power of female sexuality (it was written in the nineteenth century after all) or else Lulu is associated with female sexuality emancipation. According to the Evening Standard, Anna Friel’s performance was described as restrained, guileful and cool with a childlike glee and naughtiness. I painted the picture from life in an enormous ballroom in Clerkenwell, London, where I was living at the time. It belonged to a friend and whilst staying there I apprehended a burglary. Whilst at the easel a couple of clowns started breaking through the door. I summoned a lionesque roar from deep in my diaphram and they shat themselves and ran down the stairs. I called the police and they were taken away and put in prison. #annafriel #wedekindlulu #painting #portrait #theatre #theatrical #findesiècle #contemporarypainting #stagepainting #actor #actress #thestage #almeidatheatre #london | Posted on 19/May/2025 15:31:31