Australian Premiere: SPANK! – The 50 Shades Parody

Twelfth Night Theatre hosted the Australian premiere of SPANK!, The 50 Shades Parody over the weekend to an over-excited (and perhaps under-sexed) crowd.

SPANK! the unauthorised musical satire of E.L. James’ erotic best seller, Fifty Shades of Grey, is a raucous, electrically (and hormonally) charged girl’s night out at the theatre.

The show cleverly begins with a Batman themed strip-tease, setting the scene for a night of sexy fun in which the audience was audibly appreciative. There was such a party atmosphere it almost felt like the real thing. This of course is the imaginings of house-wife come author E.B. Janet (Rebecca De Unamuno) who packs her family off for the weekend while she writes her steamy novel in which a hunky, rich, and emotionally unavailable Hugh Hanson (Stephen Mahy) presents a contract to young virgin, Tasha Woode (Caitlin Berry) to be his submissive lover. You don’t need to have read the book by E.L James to get the story and the laughs.

All three actors carried the show and played their high-energy roles with gusto. In addition to great comedic acting, Mahy and Berry also showed off their vocal skills in a couple of musical numbers.

Although the show is billed as a musical, it’s more like a play (penned by Jim Millan) with a couple of cabaret numbers injected and a few *ahem ‘dance’ numbers from our hunky 6-pack of a man.

[pull_left]Don’t leave your decision to buy a ticket too long or you’ll miss your chance to get SPANKED![/pull_left]There is some audience interaction, which is always scary if it requires the participant to actually think and improvise; and if the GP audience member doesn’t know the Golden Rule of theatre sports to not block and always say ‘yes’, then the outcome is a bit hit-and-miss. This, in turn, makes the job a little harder for the actors involved.

For someone who is used to watching theatre with deep meanings and metaphors that provokes discourse days afterward, SPANK!, The 50 Shades Parody comes as a welcome relief. While it may not inform or educate, it certainly entertains and would provide plenty of water-cooler fodder for the week to come.

If you’ve ever wanted to experience a strip tease but can’t quite justify a strip club girl’s night out to your husband/partner, then this theatre production is the perfect excuse.

SPANK!, The 50 Shades Parody is playing a short season till 24th March. Don’t leave your decision to buy a ticket too long or you’ll miss your chance to get spanked.

To purchase tickets to SPANK! The Fifty Shades Parody, please visit Ticketmaster online or call Twelfth Night Theatre on 3252 5122.

Visit the official production website for more details.