"I Won't Mind" is a well-liked cabaret song from an unfinished musical. It's like a faux-Sondheim song. It's someone lying to herself--and that's a topic Sondheim handled well. But Sondheim didn't write this.
The song plays with two meanings of the expression I won't mind. The first is this: "I won't protest." I won't complain if you spill porridge on me. The second is this: I won't be mindful. I won't be the adult. If there is a dangerous blurring of boundaries, I will neglect my responsibility; I will look the other way.
The fun of the song is seeing the slow change from meaning one to meaning two. What starts as something sweet gradually becomes something mildly sinister.
Real pain is legible in an actor's eyes. It's not about "indicating": wringing one's hands, or shouting, or kneading the hem of one's skirt. It's the eyes. The actor has to decide (1) to "access" that pain and (2) to *reveal* that pain to an audience. People don't like to disclose that they are weak. Everything within us wants to resist self-disclosure. That's why acting is difficult.
In "I Won't Mind," Victoria Clark gives a Julianne Moore-adjacent performance. It's a privilege to see Clark's honesty.
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