When Neptune arrives on stage and launches into a heartfelt, acapella parody of ‘With Arms Wide Open’, baring both soul and body (he’s wearing little more than a suit jacket and a gorgeous bedazzled harness) you get the immediate feeling that you’re in for something special.

This show is about trauma, about identity, about loving sex and the therapy that it can provide, and about finding yourself. The show is largely improvised, with Neptune taking cues from some small cards prepared earlier, but ultimately just trusting himself to tell the right story. The improvised and freefall vibe of the narrative is intended, and is about opening yourself up to being vulnerable, and not having to be perfect, and telling your brain that actually, it’s fine to just be in the moment and enjoy the experience.

It’s chaotic, campy, and sometimes a little bit scattered, but that’s kind of the point. It’s mirroring the experience Neptune’s describing. The show feels like taking a journey through a well articulated brain dump from someone who has been through a lot and come out the other side fighting and sexy. One of the highlights for me was how he discussed the difference between being a bit peculiar and being a bit crazy. The peculiar-side is a part of who you are as a person. Maybe you are a bit neurospicy or have unusual passions or whatever. The crazy-side is about trauma and your brain learning to manage problems in a way that has long-lasting negative effects on how you interact with the world. The way Neptune brought that difference to life, forgiving the craziness while still looking for ways to improve and recover from trauma (in the sexiest ways possible) was like a lightbulb moment for me.

The audience and I were fully along for the ride, with Neptune perfectly balancing that line between profound and silly, often drawing us in with a beautiful emotional story only to drop a crude gag that had us wheezing while still processing how we got there.

If you’ve ever felt like you didn’t quite fit, carried something heavy for a long time, or just really like sex, and want someone to talk about those things beautifully and without shame, this one’s for you.

With Legs Wide Open runs at Arthur’s Art Bar Main Stage from 20 February to 22 March. Tickets at the Adelaide Fringe website here.

4 stars

By Amy Sincock