Daily Grind
By Vicki Reynolds
Directed by Meg Kanowski
Souths Leagues Club, Davies Park in Jane Street, West End, Brisbane
Tuesday-Saturday until June 4.
Bookings 846 1060
Reviewed by Kylie Hunt
It's an intense experience when you find yourself in a cosy room with 50 people, men's suits on the walls, men's trousers forming the stage curtain and a young woman performing a strip act to Madonna's "Spank Me" a mere metre away.
"I'm scared, I'm intimidated, I'm middle class", is forming a litany in my mind as Roxy, played by Eliza Mealey, finishes her act by removing her leather g-string and dancing around the stage. But that wasn't the end. Roxy stands there naked and coolly tells the audience, "I know you're looking at me, but I'm looking at you too".
I'm hooked. No longer aware that she has nothing on, the images that flicker on the back curtain allow me to enter into the private thoughts of two women who strip for $40 a session, at a cinema that shows R-rated films between the acts, and how they deal with this daily grind.
Lulu, played by Louise Bitcon, has been stripping for 20 years; Roxy is a five-year "newcomer" who started in the business to save money for university, but never got around to using it. Their relationship with each other is teased out to reveal the changing world of the stripper faced with the option of "working hot", doing "vibes" (vibrator), or not working at all.
Picked up from the Melbourne Workers Theatre, the original Daily Grind was adapted by Lisa Dombroski, Lyn McGranger and Belinda McClory.
The director of the Brisbane production, Meg Kanowski, and Street Arts Community Theatre Company Inc researched and updated the original script with visits to clubs and pubs around town. Stage designed by Anthony Babicci, choreographed by Chris Maver, with lighting by Matthew Scott, Daily Grind is a production with atmosphere that will stay with you a while.