Classic Kiwi show returns to the stage

An evergreen show about ordinary Kiwi blokes turning into strippers is coming to Blenheim.

A mix of vintage music and fashion, New Zealand comedy, and shirtless actors, Ladies Night remains a grassroots story of Kiwiana.

Actor Mike Edward said Ladies Night, set in the decade it was written, the 80s, showed how far gender inclusion had come.

“You know, ‘real blokes don’t do that kind of thing’, ‘real blokes don’t look after their bodies’, all those ideas that used to exist back in those days, which if you floated them now, they would be ridiculous,” he said.

Edward, Mark Wright, Jono Kenyon, Reid McGowan, Frith Horan and Dion Murphy are travelling to 23 cities and towns across New Zealand over September and October, bringing to the public the story of unemployed men looking to be accepted as male strippers.

The play was written in 1987 by Kiwi writers Anthony McCarten and Stephen Sinclair and immediately became a global hit. At the time there was high unemployment in New Zealand, due to an economic depression.

The show featured five down-toearth Kiwi blokes, who were out of work and looking for a way to support their families. The show remained a family-friendly comedy, nothing too outrageous, nor political, Edward said.

“It’s joyful and fun, it’s a celebration more than anything,” he said.

Edward said the show was a clownish piece of entertainment, where the audience knew more than the characters did.

Ladies Night became a global theatrical hit, making it New Zealand’s most

‘‘It’s more than just a strip show, it’s actually a very well-written comedy play and it’s a New Zealand play with New Zealand characters.’’ Comedian Mark Wright

successful play ever written. It was translated into 16 languages, toured Great Britain eight times, and won the Molière Prize, France’s premiere award for comedy, in 2001.

The show tackles the big issues: sexuality and bigotry, as well as the lighter ones – the finer points of seduction, stripping and the perfect wax job. So how did a blokey Kiwi story become a global phenomenon?

Comedian Mark Wright said the journey that men go on throughout it, specifically with the character of Barry, who is having issues with his wife, are explored quite well.

“It’s about communication, and what each want out of the marriage”.

It’s also not just women who come to see the show – the men who watch recognise themselves in the characters.

He said the retro story would provide a form of escapism to the 2023 Kiwi audience.

“It’s more than just a strip show, it’s actually a very well-written comedy play and it’s a New Zealand play with New Zealand characters,” he said.

“It’s a very very funny story, as you follow these guys in their journey, of sort of stepping out of their comfort zones, fronting up to their fears and pressures of society at the time.

“A lot of the time they are up against that attitude of ‘performing is not a real job’.”

Wright said he could relate to that as he experienced it before becoming an actor.

“I remember in the 80s in New Zealand, I was in high school and the career advisor at the school said to my face that acting wasn’t a real job, that you can have that as a hobby. I’d like to find that career adviser today.”

Wright said ultimately, Ladies Night was a story about triumph over adversity.

SUPPLIED The boys of Ladies Night on stage.