Prude
Wed., Oct. 23 at 8:15 pm; Fri., Oct. 25 at 8:15 pm; Sun., Oct. 27 at 8 pm

The King of the Party, played by Lou Campbell, on stage in a playful, exaggerated royal costume. Lou wears a light pink, form-fitting bodysuit, a bright pink-red cape with ruffled cuffs, and a pink red crown, with pink sandals on their feet. Their expression is dramatic, with wide eyes and raised hands, as they stand with legs apart, commanding attention. The spotlight highlights them against a dark stage, emphasizing their bold, comedic presence.

Highlight: Peter Sarty’s hyperactive sound design, made up of air horns and 2000s pop hits
Rating: NNNN (out of 5)
Why you should go: Though it at first plays dumb, Prude turns out to be a cathartic, meaningful event.


Can a solo show with a sparse visual world be maximalist? Before seeing playwright-performer Lou Campbell’s Prude, I might’ve leaned toward no — but this rocket-speed hit from Fringe 2022 is a nonstop sensory assault.

From the start of the 50-minute show, director Stevey Hunter and sound designer Peter Sarty blast 2000s pop hits, many so overplayed they now feel detached from reality. To these raucous tunes, Campbell, dressed in a kind of morphsuit (plus a Runescape-esque party hat), moshes around the stage without restraint. Their character soon introduces themselves as the King of the Party, promising to teach the audience how they, too, can have a similarly rockin’ time at social events.

Prude feels very Gen Z, with its hyperactive sound design and jittery rhythms resembling a social media feed in more ways than one. In a vacuum, I’d have complicated feelings about this approach — should theatre really try to compete with the dopamine-generating machine that is the Internet? It seems like a losing battle. But as Prude progresses, the King of the Party’s bombastic surface reveals itself to be just that — a surface, beneath which course rivers of insecurity and regret. Though it at first plays dumb, Prude turns out to be a cathartic, meaningful event.

List Article:
Next Stage Theatre Festival reviews: ‘Prude,’ ‘Gemini,’ ‘Civilized’