44 Sex Acts

Even though it wasn’t the case physically, mentally I had my “arms crossed” for the first fifteen minutes of the play, “44 Sex Acts In One Week”.

On a whim, I responded to a tweet that had praised the play for its innovation and humour.

It was a Sunday afternoon, I had a NSW entertainment voucher up my sleeve, and with no other plans, I bought a ticket, and made my way to the Seymour Centre.

At the heart of the play is the story of a struggling journalist who has to write a review of a new sex tips book. And when I say “review”, I mean she attempts to complete all of the sex acts covered in the book.

As she’s not in a relationship, she ends up convincing a co-worker to assist.

The reason I sat there with my “arms folded mentally” was because it started off a bit “Millenial”. By a good ten years, I was probably the oldest person in the audience. With its use of contemporary music, a bit of audience interaction, and a gimmicky set, it was most certainly not a “lovely middle-class night at the theatre”.

The play also started off using the conceit of an “old fashioned radio play” which, to be honest, kinda annoyed me with its over-simplification of the genre. I kept thinking to myself, “No, that’s not a radio play. The narrator would never have that degree of interaction”, I thought. But then I moved on.

After a while, I loosened up and really began to enjoy the play. Despite the improbable plot, the characters were believable and likeable. The text had a lot of honesty and some great moments of humour. Committing the various sex acts using fruits and vegetables was very, very funny. The cast performed well together, interacting well.

Like most plays, it was probably 10 minutes too long, and towards the end, I kinda lost a bit of interest.

But overall, I thought it was a good play, well acted and directed, and I enjoyed it very much.