If you had twenty minutes alone with an artist to talk about anything you wanted – what would you spend it on?

Sitting across Scottish artist, circus performer and, as I find out, previous suicide prevention worker Vendetta Vain, I am captured by the most intimate of Fringe experiences.

Vendetta invites the solo audience to undress to their own discretion, or voice any discomfort about her own nakedness. Once sitting comfortably, the session begins with a minute of completely silent and uninterrupted eye contact; initiating a deeply personal connection between two strangers.

What I learn, over the course of the next 20 minutes spent in a hot-boxed shipping container lit up only by the Adelaide sun shining in through a gap in the door, is that the premise of the show relies on a deep human desire: everyone craves intimacy. And there are only very few moments in life where we truly experience it.

Intimacy between persons is fostered by mutual vulnerability; Vendetta exposing vulnerability through bodily nakedness invites the audience to expose a part of their own – be it by taking off their own clothes, talking about their own story, or exposing their inner most secrets to a total stranger.

The experience relies entirely on the contribution of the audience member, so no show will ever be the same twice over (and by being an avid listener myself, I may have defeated the purpose of it by questioning the artist about the show). Naked Truth is undressing, real, and will make you stop dead in your tracks, as a moment of silence and intimacy captures you amidst the madness of the Fringe.

Catch the last show tomorrow by purchasing tickets HERE.

4 stars

By Valentina Corona