Written and Directed by Kat Dobell and Lara Dunning

Produced by Bare Productions

Tickets available here

What happens in the Ladies stays in the Ladies. What happens in the Gents is a crime against humanity.

An outrageously good time show with all the crude, rude, and brutal truths which come with a night in the club bogs, this new musical staged in the Augustine United Church has been produced by the talented Bare Productions, written and creative direction by Kat Dobell and Lara Dunning. No Spray No Lay screams ‘Fringe smash’; we mean that in every sense of complimentary, given the team’s ambitions to take the show to the 2024 Festival Fringe.

And given the quality of the concept, characters, and decisions to bring us all back into the clubs we had long since given up on (or been barred from), it’s a nifty idea. Even if the script is a smattering of cliches, there’s truth in all the characters we encounter in this ensemble musical. The ravers, the lightweights, the princess-birthday-crowns, the stuck-ups, and the girls who ignore the best advice out there – he’s just a guy. Set in a well-designed trio of stalls, with space for sinks, movements, and large drunken sweeps, Dobell and Dunning do well to position the cast of No Spray No Lay facing the audience as the mirrors of the bathroom, the graffitied stalls behind them a touch of authenticity – a large projector overhead offering snapshots on what’s going on just outside the stalls.

As a work-in-progress production, the beats of narrative and foundation, as audiences spend a night in a ladies’ bathroom of an Edinburgh club, guided by an ode to the infamous Mary of the HIVE toilets (you can’t tell us they aren’t), here called Vicki, played by Kike Hassan. Sincere and authentic in delivery, Hassan is the guide for the audience into No Spray No Lay and if anything could push the boundary into the audience more as our gateway to the Ladies’ room with more interactions and certainly a degree more oomph in their vocals to back-up the stronger performance they share with co-stars as they frequently dip in and off the stage, Hassan a constant presence.

To kick off the night is a familiar sight: someone who whiteys in one of the stalls, and a pair of pals, one smitten, one trying not to barf. With their pal Krissi (Tiia Kontro) out of action early on, only Hannah Lorimer’s Sahara stands in the way of Crystaal’s (Abigail Nelson) bad decisions with the rat-like DJ. They’re the first and most likely of characters we really dive into – the pair making an ideal impact for the audience to get to grips with the structure and tone of the show, which goes for an honest sense of humour, without pushing too hard on any buttons. Nelson’s shrieks and protestations of the DJ’s love for her are quickly brought down to reality, for a moment, by Lorimer’s strong presence and honesty.

A perfect pair of miscreants, but belovingly so, billed as Sweaty Girls, Stacey Scott and Chiara Menozzi are the only ones in the club having the time of their lives despite the bad DJ tunes and drama. They receive some of the best lines of No Spray No Lay and lift any who bounce off of their repertoire. Their club-anthem number Super-Soldiers of the Night is the first stand-apart number of the night, a sign of Dobell and Dunning’s talents with lyrics and a smash-hit of envious and un-ending energy from Scott and Menozzi. To this extent, we wonder how much is performance, and how much is Lambrini offstage. But with a good dose of Charlie, and likely a few other 100% legal delights, the Sweaty Girls capture the tone and drive of the production, and it’s in these moments where a fully flourished fringe fiesta can be seen.

Apart from this number, delivered by the crowd’s favourite duo, the other notable is a solo ballad from Ruth Harris, My Time to Fly. A rousing moment, as the character Jane, who has spent the entire show in the shadow of her pal Laura (played with gusto and attitude by Hannah Childs), seems to have caught the eye of every lad in the place. Eventually comes out of their comfort zone, thanks to a rousing speech or two and a few mixed drinks left over in the bathroom, Jane’s explosive transformation leads the way into the genuine conflict and tension the show has been missing: grabbing onto an unsuspecting lad in the crowd, the once jovial moment turns a battle which can only be solved in one way.

But have nae fear, Deb the bouncer is here. Abi Price turns their role into a powerhouse of humour and attitude. Capturing all the sleaze, misogynistic, and cliched ‘banter’ any male bouncer would fling towards the girls entering the club. They’ll keep the crowd and the audience in control – guiding latecomers, chatting up some of the audience strays, and reminding some egotists that we’re not that special. And they’ve got plenty to look out for, as these are busy toilets thanks to Daphne Nelissen and Sarah Bradley performing quick changes to dip in and out of the stalls to offer additional momentum, side characters, and some strong backing vocals when required.

With ambitions of Fringe success, the components at play here are already in place. But there is room for development and tightening to make No Spray No Lay a very likely smash-hit and audience favourite. The comedy is present and awkwardly needs to be toned out in areas of larger-than-life characters over-selling their parts and others pushing a little harder into the crowds. It’s less an issue of writing and more one of direction. The thematic vibe of the club is expertly captured with Martha Barrow’s sound design and Sean Quinn’s lighting, but lyrically, and especially in the score, No Spray No Lay requires a re-adjustment to the pacing and genre of the numbers as many blends too seamlessly into the next, with the impressionability dulling into the new. The previous numbers already forgotten outside of a couple of aforementioned belters.

Better than the hair of the dog and much better than those endless nights trawling the city for a place which will let your pal in, No Spray No Lay is destined for a Fringe success. Its concept takes enough of a turn to fend off familiarity with others, one which we look forward to seeing how it evolves next year. Fizzing with fun and familiar stakes, Dobell and Dunning’s passion and dedication have already made an impressive start for the show, now they just have to make it through the night…