REVIEW - SEX, SOCIETY AND OTHER SILLY SH*T - HEN AND CHICKENS THEATRE -

This is a charming cast with a script that is full of potential.

Written and directed by Olivia Gibbs-Fairley and put on by Fill in the Blank Theatre, Sex, Society, and Other Silly Shit is a play-rehearsal-within-a-play where the actors have conversations about the day-to-day lives of women – or what they think day-to-day conversations between women are like. The show goes through a series of scenes that I assume are part of the play within the play; the distinction between what is from a rehearsal script and what are real conversations isn’t always clear.

The cast is endearing with playful banter between them and an obvious feminine solidarity. There are a lot of dry jokes, which worked really well for a mostly millennial and gen z audience. They have quite a catchy mini song about masturbation. The actors’ facial expressions and comedic timings are golden; the audience laughed extensively throughout the show.

With that being said, the production doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. They mention difficult topics without making a comment on them. They glaze over things such as sexual assault, casual sex, body image issues, dating, and masturbation – all topics that deserve a significant delve into. Most of the scenes are comical, but every now and then there is a serious scene, made even more startling by the jump back into a light-hearted scene. They exclusively talk about the struggles cis women go through; there are only a couple of thrown-in comments about trans and nonbinary people. There is no conclusion or solution given on any topics, and though only an hour, the show was repetitive. The conversations the characters start are intriguing, I just wanted them to go deeper.

I love the concept of Sex, Society, and Other Silly Shit and hope it goes through some more development. Given that it’s two-thirds its title, I wish the show would have focused more on sex and society. I would like to see more consistency, an overarching plot, and a solid message. It just needs a bit more work to reach its potential.

{🎟 AD – PR invite – Tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review}

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