Anatomy of a scene, meeting Maude the songstress

One of the first conversations I ever had involving the character of Maude was about the costume mechanics of  her having an inflatable pregnancy belly. 

Seeing as the opening stage directions for Scene 2, Maude –– You Don’t Wanna Know Me include:

Maude takes the stage, stunning in her flapper gown. Sam’s at the piano.

At some point, we realize that Maude is also quite pregnant.

At some point we knew Maude had to be pregnant. But it puzzled us. Maude is a woman making money, literally ironing out her counterfeit bills. The song she comes out to sing while she performs this ritual of "ironing" is about her being able to do anything a man can do. And that thing is counterfeiting money, not only is she a kick ass feminist but she's our premier female counterfeiter. 

And while watching her belly inflate as she sang, and then seeing her give birth to money avec prebirth seemed like a strong visual, it became a stronger idea to keep it simple. To stick with Maude's story, her song, and play upon the natural assumptions the audience will have of seeing Maude as she walks onstage beautiful, bellyful of baby and potentially barefoot woman. To start there and then reveal that she's not pregnant, she's not a good little wifey poo but a counterfeiter who "doesn't want to know you."

Through Maude's domestic actions we are peeking at the sexuality of ironing, pregnancy as a fetish and female identity and ownership. The video below is titled Beautiful Lines of Woman Triumphant, it's a video of a woman modeling lingerie. 

While the twenties may have this feel of heightened sexuality,  women were still props. For her time, Maude isn't scandalous, she's a radical...