marriages.
As she grew older, her audience watching her turn from girl to young woman, Theodora learned to use the tricks of adulthood as well. One week there was a wave to a non-existent character just off-stage, allowing her gown to slip off her shoulder, revealing a hint of swelling breast and nothing more. The following week there was the barest possibility of a nipple,almost revealed. The week after that she turned, just as she lifted her hand to wave, and berated an old man in the front row for daring to sit so close when he knew what was coming – and then, as the audience applauded her telling him off, she let the robe fall away anyway.
Theodora had trained her body to accomplish astonishing acrobatic feats; now she took her audience by the hand and, knowing she did not have Comito’s voice, Anastasia’s grace, she made them leap and jump and dance to her whim. She taught the crowd to assume she would be good even before she started. Having done so, she made them love her.
Eventually, all three of Hypatia’s daughters from her first marriage were living the life she’d hoped to spare them. The two older girls learned to cope with the disparity between their fame on stage, and that other fame backstage, fame on their backs, but as members of the main company they were at least working at a higher level, earning well. Courtesy of their own fan base and Sophia’s management skills, Comito quickly had several wealthy patricians who vied for her favours and the income from their attention was enough to take care of herself and contribute to the family, especially once she was a few years older and living in the small villa on the third hill, where a grateful patron kept her, a comfortable walk from the Hippodrome in a quiet street, carefully placed to avoid too much of the raucous Mese crowd. Less reserved than Comito and far less delicate than Anastasia, once she’d been introduced to the process, Theodora had no qualms about fucking a wealthy man for an evening if the family purse demanded it, but her friendship with Sophia ensured that the men were of a higher class than most who paid for theatre girls, and better looking too. She had always seen her body as a tool of work. Theodora found that as long as she maintained the splitbetween her body and her spirit, she could enjoy whoring for Sophia and, not surprisingly given her other physical skills, that she was good at it as well. But no matter how much money she made from the men, Theodora’s main focus, and all her real energy, was reserved for her time on stage. She loved her work, loved her audiences, and in a very few years she was their star.
Theodora stood alone, waiting. The audience were restless, eager. They were, she knew, giggling in anticipation of the belly laughs to come. These people were here specifically because they expected Theodora to make them laugh – she had trained them well in the past five years, her hungry public were now ready to enjoy themselves before she’d even made her entrance. Forty minutes earlier, Comito had opened the show with a song the whole crowd knew, a song made successful by another actress more than a generation earlier, but even the old men had to agree, Comito sang it better. Anastasia was ready to help with the fast change into her second costume, and then Comito hurried back on with the dancers to perform their chorus number, a chanted rendition of an old speech by Euripides. This crowd were not much interested in traditional theatre, they liked song and dance, adored bawdy comedy, but they would sit through an artistic number they understood to be good for them, as long as the Golden Voice was singing and there were barely dressed dancers to watch.
Comito left the stage to a generous round of applause, and then the dancers were joined by three young acrobats, bringing on an even higher energy, readying and enticing the crowd. With each layer of soft silk removed from a dancer’s body by a leaping
As she grew older, her audience watching her turn from girl to young woman, Theodora learned to use the tricks of adulthood as well. One week there was a wave to a non-existent character just off-stage, allowing her gown to slip off her shoulder, revealing a hint of swelling breast and nothing more. The following week there was the barest possibility of a nipple,almost revealed. The week after that she turned, just as she lifted her hand to wave, and berated an old man in the front row for daring to sit so close when he knew what was coming – and then, as the audience applauded her telling him off, she let the robe fall away anyway.
Theodora had trained her body to accomplish astonishing acrobatic feats; now she took her audience by the hand and, knowing she did not have Comito’s voice, Anastasia’s grace, she made them leap and jump and dance to her whim. She taught the crowd to assume she would be good even before she started. Having done so, she made them love her.
Eventually, all three of Hypatia’s daughters from her first marriage were living the life she’d hoped to spare them. The two older girls learned to cope with the disparity between their fame on stage, and that other fame backstage, fame on their backs, but as members of the main company they were at least working at a higher level, earning well. Courtesy of their own fan base and Sophia’s management skills, Comito quickly had several wealthy patricians who vied for her favours and the income from their attention was enough to take care of herself and contribute to the family, especially once she was a few years older and living in the small villa on the third hill, where a grateful patron kept her, a comfortable walk from the Hippodrome in a quiet street, carefully placed to avoid too much of the raucous Mese crowd. Less reserved than Comito and far less delicate than Anastasia, once she’d been introduced to the process, Theodora had no qualms about fucking a wealthy man for an evening if the family purse demanded it, but her friendship with Sophia ensured that the men were of a higher class than most who paid for theatre girls, and better looking too. She had always seen her body as a tool of work. Theodora found that as long as she maintained the splitbetween her body and her spirit, she could enjoy whoring for Sophia and, not surprisingly given her other physical skills, that she was good at it as well. But no matter how much money she made from the men, Theodora’s main focus, and all her real energy, was reserved for her time on stage. She loved her work, loved her audiences, and in a very few years she was their star.
Theodora stood alone, waiting. The audience were restless, eager. They were, she knew, giggling in anticipation of the belly laughs to come. These people were here specifically because they expected Theodora to make them laugh – she had trained them well in the past five years, her hungry public were now ready to enjoy themselves before she’d even made her entrance. Forty minutes earlier, Comito had opened the show with a song the whole crowd knew, a song made successful by another actress more than a generation earlier, but even the old men had to agree, Comito sang it better. Anastasia was ready to help with the fast change into her second costume, and then Comito hurried back on with the dancers to perform their chorus number, a chanted rendition of an old speech by Euripides. This crowd were not much interested in traditional theatre, they liked song and dance, adored bawdy comedy, but they would sit through an artistic number they understood to be good for them, as long as the Golden Voice was singing and there were barely dressed dancers to watch.
Comito left the stage to a generous round of applause, and then the dancers were joined by three young acrobats, bringing on an even higher energy, readying and enticing the crowd. With each layer of soft silk removed from a dancer’s body by a leaping
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