KEY POINTS:
It is comforting to return to a much loved childhood home but at the same time it's funny how everything looks smaller.
It's the same effect with the Silo Theatre's restaging of Bare by Toa Fraser, a special season that celebrates the Silo's 10th decade.
Ten years ago Bare got the Silo noticed and helped to launch the careers of playwright Fraser and actors Madeleine Sami and Ian Hughes.
Bare was funny, urban and young, with Pacific Island and Palangi characters acting up in Auckland. It featured great performances and a hilarious sex scene where the two actors didn't touch.
Best of all it seemed like the first time Kiwi twentysomethings could laugh at themselves on stage.
A decade on the play is still good but somehow smaller. Maybe it's because the memory exaggerates or maybe it's just that we've got more used to seeing ourselves in primetime. As the updated text in the play notes, now we've got Naked Samoans, bro'Town and No 2.
It's probably not very useful to compare the earlier and later shows but it is natural to ask if something is as good as the original. In this case the only answer can be that they are different.
Director Oliver Driver wisely moves away from the original with a new design and a different style of performance. Where the original had only two chairs for props this version has a stage full of bits and bobs. Part student flat, part home office, there is stuff everywhere, piled on every table and every bench and spilling off the shelves.
And in a nice touch for train spotters, there are even references to the Silo history - the names of past productions are written on the floor, there are cast photos on the fridge and emails and reviews of other shows hang on the walls.
Bare is effectively a series of monologues in which different characters reveal their relationships with each other while riffing on everything from fast food and movies to the metaphysical nature of being a parking warden.
Driver gives actors Morgana O'Reilly and Curtis Vowell more opportunities for interaction than the original staging.
As they listen to each other they roll a cigarette, drink a coffee or heat up some food.
At its best it helps draw the audience into the action but at times it is a little too fussy and can detract from the performances.
For such young actors it is no doubt a daunting prospect to take on such a much-loved piece, and on opening night it must have been doubly hard with the original actors in the audience.
But O'Reilly and Vowell rose to the occasion with gutsy and engaging performances that showed only a tiny evidence of nerves.
Bare at the Silo Theatre is a light and funny night out. It won't offend lovers of the original and if you missed that version then make sure this one doesn't pass you by.
It's great to see authentic Auckland characters on stage and its a nice reminder of how good it is to laugh at ourselves.
Review
* What: Bare
* Where: Silo Theatre
* Reviewer: Shannon Huse
