/ 3 July 2003

Lap dancing finale has audiences dazed

Nudity makes it’s controversial appearance at this year’s National Arts Festival in the one-woman act Whore which is shocking viewers with its explicit lap dance finale.

Star of the show Lulu Davies climaxes her “philosophical monologue” by dropping her skimpy outfit and lap dancing on an unsuspecting male audience member.

Davies, a 21 year-old student at the South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance (AFDA), says her show, produced by Deon Opperman, explores the dynamics of control in the stripping industry.

“The guy from the audience that my character performs a lap dance on thinks he is so special, but it’s just a business,” she says.

She approaches the potentially volatile situation that Whore generates with remarkable maturity.

She had to respond coolly when Whore‘s opening provoked an audience member to shout at her on stage.

“I initially had mixed feelings about doing the show, but I somehow always seem keen to throw myself into something that I would never expect to do.”

She also plays the lead in the fringe production Get It On, produced entirely by AFDA students who are also gaining a scandalous reputation for their in-your-face marketing techniques.

They have unsettled festino’s by screaming in the middle of festival crowds and shouting out their marketing slogans across crowded rooms; dressing provocatively and flirting with the public and breaking out into off-the-cuff skits on crowded streets. – ECN Cuewire