A Very Naughty Christmas

If you’re tired of the kids getting all the best entertainment this festive season, A Very Naughty Christmas is just the present you’ve wanted. This sexy Santa sack full of cabaret style entertainment is cheeky adult amusement at its finest. It’s well cast, cleverly written and adeptly presented by the talented cast and crew.

The show definitively lives up to its name. Naughty jokes come thick and fast in song, dance and skit format. Certainly not for the easily offended, this production still sits, for the most part, on the tasteful side of the distasteful. There are drug references, swearing, innuendo, out your endo, nude bits, rude bits and shocking bits. Yet it doesn’t ‘punch down’ with its humour and never delves into areas that are too vulgar to stomach. It’s actually very sex positive, open-minded and importantly it’s a ton of fun.

The audience enters to the sound of the live band under the musical direction of Jake Bristow. Chris Evans on drums, bass played by Elliot Parker and Luke Volker on keys set a lively mood for the overture. The group is tight and well-rehearsed, giving great support to the singers and dancers in the cast.

Opening number “Sexy Santa” perfectly sets the tone and introduces the performers to an effervescent audience. In case you’re in any doubt about the level of ‘naughtiness’ “Backdoor Santa” continues the bawdy tone. Aurélie Roque, Emily Kristopher and Stacey De Waard sing beautifully as they perform a 40s wartime harmony group style “Let it Snow”that turns into a debauched drug-taking frenzy. Following this, Dan Venz and Patrick Whitbread hilariously attempt to seduce Santa (Stephen Hirst) with a raunchy “Santa Baby”. Aurélie Roque delivers some wonderful singing and decent drunk acting in a “Jingle Bells” parody. Candice Holyoak and Dan Venz demonstrate outstanding dance skills in a striptease to “You’re a Mean One, Mr Grinch”.

Ingeniously the band and singer Stephen Hirst convert “Santa Claus is Coming” to a minor key, making the lyrics sound extremely ominous. Elliot Baker has the audience in absolute stitches in “Six White Boomers”. Emily Kristopher has a lovely singing voice, while showing good physical comedy and skilful timing in “I’ve Got Some Presents for Santa”. The show ends on a high note with the holiday ear worm “All I Want for Christmas is You”.

Choreography by Dan Venz and Maureen Bowra is full of physical comedy and sexy moves. The duo in the role of directors have the cast and crew performing at their peak. The show is a well-oiled machine, perfectly paced and creatively blocked to make the most of the Visy’s many entrances and exits. Raymond Milner has kept the set simple and functional, allowing the performers plenty of space to move in the thrust stage and cleverly decorating the risers like Christmas packages. Raymond’s costume designs in collaboration with Gayle Macgregor and Liz Ball, flatter the performers with fun and flirty takes on traditional yuletide garb.

Now in its third year of production, it’s easy to see why this show has fast become an audience favourite. Shows have been selling out and like Santa, they only come once a year. It’s the perfect production to attend if you enjoy a ‘Ho Ho Ho’.

Kiesten McCauley

Photography by Joel Devereux