★★★1/2
Adelaide Fringe. The Warehouse Theatre. 5 Mar 2025
Sauna Boy is a one man show, and it comes with warnings for strong and frequent sexual references, simulated sex scenes and coarse language, and mild nudity. Sometimes warnings seem to be overstated, but not these – they are warranted. This show is not for prudes or homophobes.
The play is about the experiences of a young man who works in a gay sauna: about the nature of his actual work, his fellow employees, his boss, the customers, and how he relates to it all. The text of the play is deliberately confronting, and the audience physically cringes at times and utters groans of revulsion.
But there is something about the frankness of the script. Written and acted by Birmingham School of Acting trained Dan Ireland-Reeves, Sauna Boy is apparently semi-autobiographical which makes it all the more confronting: some of what is described has actually happened. But which bits? Most, one suspects.
Ireland-Reeves plays the role of Dan (or Danny Boy as he is known to his boss, co-workers and customers) in a prominent (unnamed) sauna in England. He’s an out-of-work actor and needs the money, and he soon proves to his controlling boss (known as ‘Mother’ – do things his way or take the highway) that he is capable of taking on management responsibility, which he does. As manager he sets himself three targets: to get a liquor license, create a website, and make the place so popular that it frequently reaches maximum occupancy. With punishingly long hours and hard work, and with almost losing his own identity, he achieves these targets within a year but falls foul of Mother (as many do) and quits. As he leaves for the last time, so do the concerns of what comes from living a highly exaggerated and mostly insincere existence.
A highlight of the show is the variety of characters that Ireland-Reeves plays. Although they are all larger-than-life and extravagant, Ireland-Reeves breathes sufficient detail into each one to make them credible and unique. His facial gestures, accents and nuanced body language are disciplined and entertaining. Ireland-Reeves confidently moves around the very small black-box acting space with choreographed precision in such a way that it seems much larger. The lighting and sound plots are precise, empathetic with the on-stage action, well thought out and splendidly executed. Kudos to both the designer and operator!
Sauna Boy however does not land any real theatrical punches. Not that every piece of theatre needs to be ‘preachy’ or have a ‘message’, but it needs to know what it wants to be. Sauna Boy is neither a comedy nor a drama. Neither is it a melodrama, nor a musical (the script includes a Sinatra song that is sung by one of the characters). It doesn’t strive to make a noteworthy point. It is however a slice of life, one which most will never experience, but perhaps it relies to much on shock value. It does not try very hard to deeply explore the relationships between what are very complex characters, and this would be fertile territory.
That said, the audience had a great time. They laughed, reacted and engaged with Ireland-Reeves, and gave him generous applause at the end of what was certainly a taxing monologue to perform.
Kym Clayton
When: 5 to 9 Mar
Where: The Warehouse Theatre
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
