Steaming is a revival of Neil Dunn’s internationally acclaimed, unashamedly raunchy, comedy and it’s coming to Tweed.
The classic Neil Dunn play tells of six women from diverse backgrounds who meet on “Ladies Day” in a London bathhouse where they share the most intimate details of their lives, loves, dreams and frustrations.
When the ladies hear that the bathhouse is to be shut down, they unite to try and find a way to save it.
STEAMING is touring in March/April 2011, presented by Abstract Entertainment. Directed and Starring Alli Pope of “A Country Practice”, “Blue Heelers” and “Neighbours” success, the all-female cast also includes Cathy Quinn, Yvie Somerville, Blossom Good-
child, Leanee Sutcliffe
and Leona Kirby.
The play is a funny, sad, fascinating and thoroughly entertaining foray into the lives and loves of these women who discover friendship as they shed their inhibitions.
Superficially it’s a small-scale modern classic about the politics of closing down some of the dilapidated turkish bathhouses in a 1970s London of the working poor and pensioners. Neil Dunn’s characters continually create shifting planes of light as they reveal their stories, their physicalities and their emotional bonds with each other.
The universal theme of STEAMING is that of vulnerability and strength, sharing our experiences.
We are all different but, by coming to appreciate our differences, we discover we are all the same.
The show is known for its razor-sharp, acerbic dialogue and YES, its nudity. STEAMING can be considered controversial because of the nudity. But it’s so much more than that – it’s about friendship, finding your place in the world and fighting for what you believe in.
It is a warm-hearted, often humorous portrayal of women coming to know each other. When they realise their ‘sanctuary’, their little bit of luxury, is about to be demolished by penny-pinching, self-aggrandising bureaucrats, they must unite and ‘SAVE THE BATHS’.
“It may have been written in 1981 but the issues that arise during this comedy-drama will never grow old. With its full frontal nudity and sometimes provocative content, STEAMING delivers a strong message about friendship,” director Alli Pope noted.
Warning: Restrictions apply to persons under the age of 15 years. (This play contains nudity and coarse language.)
