REVIEW: My Year Without Sex [Theatre Buff]

Theatre Buff

Behind the scenes after the final curtain call...

REVIEW: My Year Without Sex

Posted on October 14, 2007 3:09 PM
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My Year Without Sex
The Venue, Leicester Square
London - 14 October 2007.

Review by Katie Spain

It’s a frightening prospect… a year without sex. Then again, for a lot of people it’s a stark reality. You don’t need to know which category I fall into… suffice to say, it's with an open mind that I approach ‘The Venue’ for Beverly Blankenship and Jessica Gerger’s play.

It takes a courageous person to act out a one-woman play created using contributions by ten different authors. The writers were given free licence to pen any scene they wished and the results included monologues, dumb shows, and scenes with a large cast. My Year Without Sex is performed by one actress. Brave lass.

The play centres on a religious pilgrimage undertaken by the extremely vocal Mrs Tickletext; a woman with mothballs of steel and fire in her loins. Watch out Dame Edna Everage, fasten your seatbelt Mrs Doubtfire… there’s a new biddy on the block! Her tongue is quick, her breasts are saggy and she’s on a worldwide mission of self discovery. Much to our delight, Tickletext tiptoes the fine line between obnoxious and naïve with the grace of an elephant. As the ‘star’ treks her way across Europe, we meet the colourful characters she encounters along the way.
The story takes place in an overwhelmingly purple set. They say the colour represents sexual frustration but this just reminds me of my Nanna. A giant suitcase however, is put to great use and soon reveals itself as a taxi, a tourist bus, a raft, a bed and an English cottage. Eat your heart out James Bond.

As Gerger ploughs through the patchwork-quilt plot, we can’t help but marvel the character swapping techniques. Breasts give way to hippie-chick attire, old Casanovas transform into pigeons and amongst it all we wait, holding our breath… will she slip up and make a mistake of mass proportions? This Aussie woman is as professional as they come, and she has the facial expressions to prove it.

Admiration levels hit new heights when Mr Tickletext makes an appearance. It’s hard enough acting out a sex scene, but playing the roles of two bed-buddies must be downright confusing. Gerger hits comedy gold when the oldies hit the height of passion. It’s orgasmic fun baby!
If you’ve travelled throughout Europe, the characters will mirror the people you met along the way. If you haven’t left your backyard for the past twenty years, you may struggle to grasp some of the cultural references but it’s a good enough reason to spread those wings (or at least the pages of a guide book).

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Abstinence however, obviously makes the mind grow manic. As the show closes, we’ve warmed to the endearing Mrs Tickletext and vow not to go more than a month without some lovin’. She may not quite be the next Dame Edna Everage but she sure does make Nanna look boring.

WATCH MRS TICKLETEXT'S HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TOUR: