Review: Nasty ‘Big’ Girls Being Gross, Mean & Sexy, The Wardrobe Theatre – ‘An uncensored, heartfelt and hilarious takedown of our body-shaming culture’

Nasty: ‘Big’ Girls Being Gross, Mean & Sexy offers an uncensored insight into what it means to have a real body in today’s perfectionist culture, where heartfelt confessions are punctuated throughout by hilarious sketches and crass anecdotes.

This two-woman show thrives on the rich chemistry between its stars, where both Amy and Rio from Succulent Theatre share personal stories of pain, heartbreak and self-destruction. In doing so, they act as sounding boards for each other’s confessions, offering candid sympathy and support in moments of psychological intensity.

The show’s stars present heartfelt soliloquies with unflinching honesty, as they peel back the layers to reveal their personal struggles with food and body image. These confessional moments are neither self-indulgent nor preachy, where raw emotion and honest communication with the audience punctuates seemingly spontaneous effusions of inner truth.

Rio Montana Topley and Amy Stephenson Yankuba in ‘Nasty’

Nasty also does a great job of controlling the mood in the room, where the audience is given just enough time to reflect before the next chapter begins. These tonal shifts are often marked with a blaring pop song or a much-needed dance number, both of which prove to be effective methods of dissipating any lingering sadness.

The show works to confound the expectation that women’s bodies are pristine and delicate, by celebrating everything that society deems we should be ashamed of. As such, Nasty goes a long way when it comes to normalising taboos, where its stars address topics that are rarely discussed anywhere, let alone acted out on stage.

Clogged toilets, masturbation and public tampon removal are all subjects for easy discussion, where Amy and Rio frequently switch between riotous humour and heartfelt home truths.

In this way, the pair are redefining what theatre can do, where nothing is off limits when it comes to conveying unflinching stories of pain and resilience. Importantly, the show’s intrinsic message is well contained amidst plenty of physical gags and laugh-out-loud moments, where Nasty never condescends whilst attacking the culture of body shaming in which we all participate.

Nasty’s leading women succeed in presenting a brave confessional piece, where direct communication with the audience allows for their story to hit home in an incredibly impactful, layered and dynamic way. Within this format, the show encompasses a journey towards internal healing, where wounds are reopened and soothed throughout its brief run-time.

Ultimately, Nasty manages to pinpoint the female struggle of having a body in the modern world, whilst also declaring that radical self-acceptance, confidence and joy are all still within our grasp.

Nasty: ‘Big’ Girls Being Gross, Mean & Sexy is at The Wardrobe Theatre on April 23-25 at 7.30pm. Tickets are available at www.thewardrobetheatre.com.

All photos: Succulent Theatre

Read next:

• Review: Musclebound, The Wardrobe Theatre – ‘A hilarious and honest exploration of female sexuality’
• Review: Don’t Do It, Don’t Do It, Do It!, The Wardrobe Theatre – ‘Fun-filled yet deeply heartful look at sexuality, womanhood and modern society’
• Review: Dear Young Monster, The Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic – ‘A truly important piece of theatre’