'Nude' play excites theatre lovers - New production features strong sexual content

With simulated sex scenes, and audience members confirming they saw actors' private parts, 'Sugar Daddy', the latest production of award-winning playwright and director David Tulloch, is already turning heads.

Open for little more than a week, the play is already one of the hottest topics on the local theatre scene.

Tulloch, already known for attempting to 'reinvent' local theatre, added new dimension to his repertoire with the premiere of the provocative play on Emancipation Day.

"After watching it, I would pay twice the money to watch it. I get mi money back from the first five minutes," one visitor reported after the show's first screening.

"Loved the opening. I think the opening was very real," another said. That opening entailed a loud and raucous entrance from backstage, by a defensive naked woman, a flustered half-naked man and an angry, fully-clothed woman. Following that introduction, the players were hard-pressed to keep the audience calm for the duration of the show.

'Sugar Daddy' follows the lives of George Leslie (Tulloch), his wife Anita (Samantha Brevett), Kysann Williams (Trishana Wright), her boyfriend Jermaine (Rolando Fagan) and Moya (Kimberly Gray).

As the title suggests, the story involves a young woman and an older, more financially stable man. 

Like any Jamaican tale, it is told through comedy, but it also takes on much more adult themes, including profanity, nudity and strong sexual content.

"It's not just about the nudity and the use of the profanity, but the other thing I think really stood out was the fact that there are lessons. There was so much more to take away from the production, like how we deal with our spouses during difficult times, the male ego, lack of respect and how financial stress can change the dynamics of a relationship," another patron told The STAR.

Tulloch, who also wrote the play, told THE STAR that he is grateful for the positive reactions so far.

"I didn't expect the final installment to get this rather warm reception. From a writer's perspective I wanted to focus on story, emotions and real life situations," he said.

But other than a number of rave reviews, there have been some reservations about the location. Some patrons don't think that the Blue Room of the Phoenix Theatre on Haining Road is as comfortable as it could be. 

One visitor said she enjoyed the production, however, "It was cramped, which kind of did a little bit of injustice to the actors, especially when they have to use the space that the audience is sitting. Sometimes you haffi kneel down pon the chair fi see."