Naturism
Writer: Ang Collins
Director: Declan Greene
Wharf 2 Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company
October 25 – November 15, 2025
Have we reached the point where it is permissible to make silly jokes at the expense of climate anxiety? Ang Collins thinks so, and hopefully she is right, as having a good laugh at some of the absurdities and hypocrisies of climate activism suggests the movement has come of age at last.
Straight away, the play gets down to basics. The three principals, Glenn Hazeldine, Nicholas Brown and Hannah Waterman, are introduced one by one, naked and spotlighted in vaudevillian fashion. Each draws sly attention to their defining bits, and their complete confidence in being stripped of both the protection and disguise provided by clothing immediately gains our wonder and sympathy. Most of us could not let ourselves be so vulnerable to the public’s gaze.
The three have lived for two decades in their version of an “eco-paradise”, off-grid and obeying the rules in their sacred book, called “Thingy”, and drawn up by Ray (Hazeldine). In sunglasses and sneakers, Ray looks a smooth operator and, as the apparent leader, he projects authority over his two subjects – the task and rule-oriented Sid (Brown), and Sid’s partner, the arty-crafty, self-described “empath”, Helen (Waterman).
Although naked, Helen still manages to have that feminine indispensable, a handbag – in this case, handwoven – and expresses her creativity through the ridiculously elaborate hats she has made for each of them. It is apparent she is becoming dissatisfied with the isolation imposed by Ray, and when an intruder arrives from “the outside”, Helen is moved to little rebellions.
The intruder, who has apparently struggled through the bush in white sandals, crocheted pink shorts and bra top and a long floaty coat, is Evangeline (Camila Ponte Alvarez). A young self-described “eco-warrior” and a TikTok influencer, Evangeline is seeking redemption for crimes against the environment – the use and then disposal of an air conditioner.
As the preoccupations of the Gen Xers (definitely not Baby Boomers) – growing veggies, handcrafting and listening to The Seekers – are made fun of, Evangeline is a compendium of Gen Z’s idiosyncrasies: short attention span, mobile dependence and inability to read. When the male of the Gen Z species arrives, Adam (Fraser Morrison), self-described “content creator and emerging rapper”, things really begin to unravel.
A rather hastily contrived bushfire brings the ‘eco-paradise’ to its end but not before a devastating discovery is made and a devastating secret revealed. And how does it end?
With a new Adam and a new Eve?
The highlight of what are all truly fine comic performances is Waterman’s Helen. She exudes warmth and garners sympathy as a woman tiring of the rule book created by a would-be patriarch. Her rebellions, the nibbling of magic mushrooms, provide the visual highlights of the show as she communes with talking stars, a giant bee and a female whipbird with a French accent. While funny, these interludes carry the message that listening to nature is the road back.
Naturism is a very imaginative production, and while the plotline may seem thin, the play makes its point visually. We are literally offered a glimpse through ferns and branches into a delusional little world – and the hope that it might be possible to have a larger view.
