May 5. Day 126. Naked truth

Jack Henry as the Naked Man

Matthew Filkins as the flower seller (also plays Garbage Man Two)

Ben Warren as the Patrolman

We are a horribly judgey lot aren’t we?  See a person in council clothes emptying a wheelie bin and immediately we make assumptions – lots of them. We jump to conclusions on the basis of what people do and what they wear. But worst of it, we let the uniform we wear define ourselves. The whole blue collar/white collar divide might not be as strong as it once was but it’s there. It’s farcical which is what the one act play One was Nude and one Wore Tails which I saw tonight in the Anywhere Theatre Festival. I love the concept of the Festival - take theatre out of theatres and perform just about everywhere. Tonight was in old substation at Paddington and the production was by Room to Play independent theatre company. What we see is that putting a council worker in tails and he might as well have changed into a Lyrca superman suit. Suddenly he’s not the same person and has a whole new set of powers. Put an ambassador in a bin naked and he’s stripped of his. The premise that brings this about involves a cheating diplomat who flees his love nest and takes refuge in a bin where a refuge worker finds him and agrees to help. What could possibly go wrong apart from everything? The standout performer was Jack Henry as the Naked Man who has a great face and awesome timing even if he totally lacks a costume....

One Was Nude and One Wore Tails by Dario Fo at the Paddington Substation Enogerra Terrace as part of the Anywhere Theatre Festival continues until May 14 nightly at 7.30pm

Elise Grieg as Woman and Colin Smith as Garbage Man one