Reviews

Tugun Theatre Company is a small but adventurous group on the southern end of the Gold Coast and their latest offering is something quite confronting.

The Naked Truth explores the trials and tribulations in the lives of five prospective pole dancers. The girls: Rebecca Kenny-Sumiga, Samantha McClurg, Rianna Hartley-Smith, Cecile Campbell and Kate Armon are very raw recruits but under the tutelage of Peta Simeon they blossom into quite an entertaining ensemble.

Along the way we are privy to the pressures of their lives away from the poles.

When the pair of performers to open a show (the consistently excellent Jarrod Chave and Annie Gladdis) have timing, energy, chemistry – plus impressive enunciation – it’s a good sign you’re in for a winner. As more and more of this large cast file in and fill the stage, the fun increases, and the experience evolves into a warm, gentle, amusing look at the way that families – American or otherwise - often behave at Christmas time.

If it’s good-hearted, high-spirited fun that you seek, the team at Noarlunga have got you covered with a charming panto that may be short on polish but is long on likeability. With a colourful range of characters out to either help or hinder the young hero Aladdin in his adventures, and a number of low-key-but-mostly-charming songs-and-dances along the way, there should be something to please all ages here.

This play attempts to address a confronting social issue with freshness and humour. The concept is endearing with a very noble agenda. Helene (Genevieve Picot) is an elderly woman whose tendency for hoarding is placing her independent living at risk. Sophia Constantine plays both her pet cockatoo and her frustrated daughter, who is struggling to convince her mother that her hoarding is becoming unstainable. The author, Sandra Fiona Long, also acts as a playful narrator who highlights the often bizarre nature of the scenarios that are depicted.