Theatre In Preview

This rom-com theatre production in the vein of ‘Sex And The City’ and ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ is returning to Brisbane for its final three shows, after starting its life here two years ago.
“It’s a beautiful full circle because the Judith Wright Centre took a chance on us and gave us a season back in 2009. The season sold out. We did so well,” explains the show’s star Jo Thomas.

The play’s success in Brisbane led to seasons in Adelaide, Sydney and the Gold Coast, followed by a Queensland and then an extensive national tour. “It’s been amazing. It doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s Alice Springs or a tiny mining town in WA, the audience always seems to react the same way. I’ve just had countless women who come out afterwards and go, ‘oh that’s just the story of my life.’”

‘Often I Find That I Am Naked’ tells the story of Jezebel, a flame-haired single gal who’s determined to find true love. “She’s very successful in her life but she just can’t seem to find the right man. Things go astray a lot for Jezebel and she ends up in very awkward situations and she ends up with some very awkward men. She tries the basic things like speed dating and online dating, then she tries things like raffling herself off in a spelling bee competition. She has a little interlude in a disabled toilet - things that, you know, maybe aren’t the best way to find true love."

The men in Jezebel’s life, all 15 of them, are played by actor Sam Clark. Live music is also incorporated into the show with James Dobinson providing accompaniment on the piano, keyboard and ukulele and there’ll be plenty of songs the audience will recognize.
“I like to say it’s the mix tape from Jezebel’s life. So there is some ‘80s music, there’s some ‘70s music like Captain & Tenille, there’s George Michael and there’s some more modern stuff like Pink and The Killers. There’s a real range of pop songs in there.”

Those who saw the show in Brisbane the first time around will notice a few changes to the music and some other tweaks here and there. “We’ve changed a lot of things since the original at the Judith Wright Centre. One of the changes was that our beautiful musician back then was Tom Raymond and he decided to go off and be a lawyer so we had to find ourselves a new musician. We were very lucky to get James, but automatically there was something different because James has a very different personality as a performer so we’ve changed the music quite a bit … and because we were lucky to get so much work, we were able to upgrade our set and our costumes.”

The nature of the show tends to attract a mainly female audience, but Thomas says a few brave blokes have come along too.
“I’d say probably 80% of the audience is female. Many of the venues market it as a great girls night out but I’m always really pleased when we see men in the audience. I go up and have a chat at the end and they’re never offended, they often laugh. There are scenes in the piece that everyone, whether male or female, seems to be able to go, ‘yeah, I’ve been on a date like that.’”

After chatting with numerous women (and men) who’ve attended the show, Thomas reckons it is getting harder and harder to find “the one”. “I really do think it is. We have all these new technologies and that’s wonderful but I don’t know if they’re actually helping us talk to each other; people are a bit confused I think. It used to be very clear what the path was for a man and a woman. Heaven forbid, I’m not saying we go back to ‘you must get married at 22, and you must have your three children’, and that sort of thing but at least everyone knew what was expected and the social norms. I just think it’s more complex now. We’re all still trying to figure out how it all works.”

So does Jezebel figure it all out in the end? Does she live happily ever after? Thomas isn’t giving anything away.
“Maybe. It is a bit of a rom-com but it’s also ambiguous as well so it’s good for people to make up their own minds.”

‘OFTEN I FIND THAT I AM NAKED’ PLAYS AT THE JUDITH WRIGHT CENTRE FROM OCT 27 – 29.