Self-professed serial nudist Frankie van Kan takes the stage in this two-person play, centred on the different layers of sexuality, perception of bodies and sex work.
With full frontal nudity (and more!) this is not for the reserved, but this is not a play about shock value, it is a well-considered meditation on a body at work.
Initially taking the stage in a spangly bra and g-string, Frankie moves through periods of her life in the sex industry, taking off and putting on various outfits. This is a metaphor for the various layers of assumptions about her that are made throughout her career – both by her clients, and self-perception.
As a stripper, is she 'just' a stripper, or does she have a 'redeeming' main career, with stripping a temporary side hustle to fund her respectable real life? As her boundaries change, does her image change too? What does it mean to be queer in an industry that still predominantly services males? Finally, when her body moves from working with sex, to working to create new life, how does that change the way she is seen, and sees herself? The arc of the play is raunchy, tender and thoughtful, delivering much more that initially meets the eye, as a sort of meta-analysis of the way people view those who work in the sex industry.
The nudity is also integral to the story – about sex appeal, body acceptance and rejection of shame. Several women in the audience reflected that seeing Frankie’s sexy, womanly body and hearing about how it was desired made them feel sexier themselves. And you do see a lot of Frankie’s body – but the nudity is quickly normalised as nothing more than a body with desires, just like everyone else.
Daniel Newell aka Dandrogyny plays a host of supporting characters, always initially hyper masculine, sometimes quite aggressive. In one vulnerable piece that stood out for the change of pace, however, they represented men Frankie had seen who needed tenderness, a place to cry and be touched. She tells the story of a nurse’s assistant, working in nursing homes in COVID who lost so many people, and couldn’t comfort them the way he wanted to. Frankie and her services helped to soothe his broken heart.
This wonderful play was somewhat let down by lighting and audio, with spotlights failing to find her and much too loud music drowning out her words – however, it's a welcome insight into the sex industry, particularly from the queer perspective, a story that is under-told.
