Stark Bollock Naked does exactly what it says on the tin - minus the bollocks. The show opens with the eponymous 'stark naked' Larisa Faber introducing the show and commentating on society's relationship with nudity. Shortly after, her stage partner, Shamira Turner, bandages her bits and Larisa spends the majority of the show fixed in position and acting as a human projector screen. Faber's body hosts a range of impressive projections, from various outfits to some inventive imagery of photos and videos to annotate the meandering journey through the experience of a woman in her thirties and the goings on of the body through this time.
Larisa spends the majority of the show acting as a human screen, her body hosting a range of impressive projections
Larisa is an expressive performer who, constrained by the required rigidity of her body, uses her face and voice to excellent comic effect, demonstrating a mastery of comic timing and expression. Her commentary is interspersed with effective use of sound effects and she interacts well with Turner, who proves a competent and likely sidekick that may be slightly underused.
This show would work well as a comedy piece, but is far better suited to the theatre section in which it has been categorised. It's regularly amusing, occasionally funny but never hilarious and, as you'd hope from any theatrical piece, well constructed and performed, maximising the opportunity for creative and artistic projections with its novel concept.
While the performance is engaging throughout, the spectacle and imagery eclipse the theme of the show's spoken content: that of womanhood. The spoken material is neither going to win awards nor bore an audience. Faber makes a point and carries the show effectively, but it is the USP which will put bums on seats. If you're interested in seeing a feminist piece and visually stunning insight into life as woman in her thirties, anchored by an engaging and expressive performer, you can't go wrong with this gem.
