Review: THE NAKED NEDS, Cottiers

The Naked Neds is a new piece of theatre written and directed by Ingram Noble. Four best friends meet in the pub but leave one chair empty. That chair is for their friend Cammy who took his own life recently. The boys decide they want to do something to raise money in Cammy’s memory, but what? Naturally, stripping in the local pub is the obvious solution. 

Paul (Lucian Burlingame) is the typical wide-o of the group and he's about to be a first-time dad at twenty-five years old. He's struggling to come to terms with the responsibility that lies ahead but he's also worried about his health as he's found a lump on his baws (his words, not mine).

One thing that is quite powerful in this play is the use of language around topics like suicide and cancer. In this weird time when people censor words like death and suicide on social media, it is impactful to hear things spoken about in a normal fashion. It’s their friend that they lost and they’re allowed to talk about his passing in the way they feel is fitting. 

Body image is something that comes up in relation to the striptease, it's difficult for Jamie (Ingram Noble) to do the full monty when he feels that his physique is far from the ideal. Although the lads slag each other rotten, they're there to support their mates when it really counts. 

It’s a little long at 90mins straight through but to be fair it does cover a lot of ground. Tough topics are tackled but in an accessible way that the audience can relate to. There's no preaching and there's a particularly effective scene where the pals talk each other through checking their testicles for abnormalities. 

The Naked Neds is a powerful piece of well-written theatre that isn't afraid to use stark and jarring language to drive the point home. This show is about looking after your pals and not being scared to talk about the hard subjects. The creative team have also provided resources for both suicide awareness and testicular cancer in their programme, ensuring that conversations will continue after the performance.

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