Maude Davey. Image by Ponch Hawkes.
Here is a show that certainly lives up to its title!
My Life in the Nude takes us on a lively journey through the life and career of actor and burlesque icon, Maude Davey, whose full-frontal performances have made her a legend. Yes, she IS nude – very nude – for the better part of the performance, using her body like a canvas and clothes her paint. Ironically, it seems more confronting when she slips into one of her many fabulous costumes rather than her trusty old birthday suit. This is a show all about celebrating the body as beautiful – irrespective of size, shape, age or deformity. There is no ugly in Davey’s world. Having taken it off and entranced thousands of Australians of the last decades, Davey has more than earned her take-no-prisoners, rapid-fire, greatest hits show.
And what a show! For two glorious hours she keeps us charmed and thrilled with anecdotes, acrobatics, gender-bending, dirty dirty magic, highlighting shifting, (and not so shifting), attitudes toward sex, nudity and beauty all the while weaving throughout classics from the likes of Pearl Jam, Portishead, Patti Smith and a show-stealing rendition of The Angels‘ ‘Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again?’ (which is so rocking I challenge anyone to sit down). Davey has the audience in the palm of her hand, with such an electric charisma she could power the city for a week!
As writer, Davey’s script is overall non-linear but there is never a point where it gets confusing. It ranges from the hilarious, to the poignant, most notably when she asked an audience member to read a painful letter from a close friend. One of the show’s highlights – her breathtaking version of Glory Box.
Visually, despite the intimacy of the room, it has an element of grandeur with red curtains with white, blue and red lighting from Bronwyn Pringle and designer Isaac Lummis. Sound is crisp, all replicating the famous burlesque houses that aligned Kings Cross through the 90s-00s. My Life in the Nude shines, it is beautiful, utterly profane, energetic, entrancing, empowering and liberating production, hitting another bullseye for the La Mama/fortyfivedownstairs Encore season. Do not pass this up. Leave your inhibitions at the door. You won’t be needing them from here on in.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
My Life in the Nude
Written and performed by Maude Davey, with Deborah Eldred
Directed by Anni Davey
Designed by Isaac Lumis
Lighting Design by Bronwyn Pringle
fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
www.fortyfivedownstairs.com
15-27 July
