Strip Theatre Review

Dollypop Theatre Company’s production of Strip, which featured as part of the Emerging Artists Showcase 2015, played to a full house at The Ustinov Studio in Bath on Wednesday 18th February. It was a realisation of a year of research by Jade Berks, a recent Bath Spa University graduate, into the world of burlesque and stripping. Jade Berks also wrote, produced this play and co-directed this production with Louise Marie Bowen.

Strip, was a 90 minute comical and thought provoking verbatim play, which drew on the testimony of real-life burlesque dancers and strippers. Fuelled by her curiosity, the presenter, played by Becky Sage who spoke with crystal clear diction was filming a documentary. This character was our guide behind the scenes into the dressing rooms, cafes, and flats of the women who were interviewed. As the audience never saw a segment of burlesque or stripping, it was clear that this production was focused on the human stories of these women their motives for entering into this career, their aspirations and their regrets. For me, the play’s message was simple. We, as a society, need to reflect on how we view women in this industry and particularly for men, who pay for this privilege, how they treat these women. After each character was interviewed, the transition involved the presenter reflecting on what she had just heard, and this device cleverly allowed the audience to do the same.

Structuring the piece in this way gave the production real clarity. The testimonies themselves were also well structured as the first woman we were introduced to the glamorous burlesque dancer, Gia played by Florence Espeut-Nickless, was arguably the most familiar, which gave us a way into the world. Then we were introduced to her Gia’s burlesque kitten, Amber played by Emma Dingle whose character offered many insights into how the world of burlesque operated. Next we were introduced to Danielle played by Olivia Griffiths, whose character explained the perils of the industry in particular how easy it is to get addicted to the money.

As Strip drew to a conclusion the final testimony was from the hilarious extravert Moonshine Bonanza played by Steph Crothers whose confidence and attention to detail really brought this character to life. This comic relief enabled us, as an audience, to laugh with these women and this helped to create and understanding and an empathy towards them.

The production concluded with a key quote from each interview and a short video clip from the women that

were interviewed for the production. This theatrical device gave a really strong impact to the piece as it reminded us that these were real stories from real women not, just imagined characters.

Dollypop Theatre Company, have a really great show here. The entire team have done both themselves and Bath Spa Univeristy very proud. We at Live Arts Connect wish them all the very best of luck with the rest of the tour.

For more information about Dollypop Theatre Company visit:

http://theatrebristol.net/member/profile

Please like them on Facebook by searching Dollypop Theatre Company and tweet @DollyPopTheatre.

Would you like a review similar to this one? If you can provide one complimentary free ticket we at Live Arts Connect would be more then happy to review your show. To set this up, contact us at: editor@liveartsconnect.co.uk

#Review #ustinovtheatre