Naked, a new bilingual devised play by Rabbit Hole Ensemble (Haiqing Liang, Maggie Zhang and Yijing Chen) premieres at Camden Fringe this month.
“Five months before their wedding, a man and a woman begins couple therapy. Having tried everything else, they revisit memories, self-help books, sex and play – anything to reconnect with the person beneath the arguments.
Naked is a surreal love story exploring intimacy, identity, and the parts of ourselves that refuse to grow up.”
The production has been developed through work-in-progress sharings at LAMDA and Riverside Studios, continuing at Voila! later this year.
Where: Camden People’s Theatre / Rosemary Branch Theatre
When: 3 Aug, 15 Aug
Ticket link: https://camdenfringe.com/events/knock-knock/
What’s your show about, and where did the idea come from?
NAKED follows an interracial couple who begins couples therapy five months before their wedding. A surreal bilingual love story, it explores intimacy, identity, and the parts of ourselves that refuse to grow up.
The show grew out of conversations we’ve had with our therapists, partners, friends and one another.
We found ourselves kept returning to the same questions: what masks do we wear as “proper” adults? What stories do we carry into our relationships? And why do we keep finding ourselves in the same arguments?
Sell it to the potential audience in one sentence?
When sex and self-help books fail, at least there’s therapy.
Why did you want to be part of the Camden Fringe?
We’re three recent graduates devising our debut show from scratch. Camden Fringe felt like the ideal place to take risks, experiment and discover what the show could become in front of an audience – without the pressure of having to get everything right the first time.
What’s your favourite memory of Fringe theatre?
Our favorite thing about Fringe theatre is the bubbling sense of chaos, and the togetherness and commitment within a Fringe team.
It’s that post-show moment when everyone looks back at the journey of making the show – the ups and downs, all the ridiculous moments in the rehearsal room, and realizes that, somehow, it was all worth it.
What’s next for you/the show?
We’ll be gathering feedback from our Camden Fringe audiences and using it to rework and develop the show further ahead of our next performance at Voila! Festival on 5 November – save the date!
We’re excited to see how the show evolves once audiences become part of the process.