Performance: Bare

Maidment Theatre, Reviewer: Susan Budd

Bare has lost none of the freshness and sparkle that made it a hit in 1998 in Auckland and Wellington and in 1999 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Toa Fraser's wit still dazzles.

At a second viewing, the tight structure that melds the many assorted scenes is more apparent, as are the poignancy of the tale that forms the framework of the play and the personal tragedies underlying the quirky humour of the kids with street-cred.

Madeleine Sami and Ian Hughes hurtle at breathtaking speed through characters and scenes, without ever sacrificing veracity and complexity.

Each is given a rich subtext that causes a catch in our laughter at their absurdities. The length of their playing has lent depth to their characterisations.

The fully clothed sex scene with the width of the stage between them is a brilliantly comedic set-piece, an achingly funny rendering of the distance between two people when they are physically closest.

Sami's portrayal of Venus, who seeks physical perfection and symmetry as a substitute for love and family roots, captures tender vulnerability and essential toughness with beautiful economy. As Dave, whose jaunty humour and search for career fulfilment at Burger King mask appalling childhood experiences, Ian Hughes creates an appealing portrait of a guy in search of himself. In contrast, his playing of Shakespeare, the grandfather of Venus, has gravitas and pathos.

Sami has not won numerous acting awards for nothing. Her energy is awesome and her skill of instant adoption of character amazing.

She shines equally as a woolly academic bleating postmodernist doctrine and a young girl rapping through the names of everyone in her personal universe.

Michael Robinson's production could not be more simple - a bare stage, no props and two actors who let it rip. And it is a triumph.