What They Said About Sex comes to KC Fringe Festival
“I wouldn't normally get cast as an 81 year-old woman. It conveys a message that we all have different sides to ourselves.”
What They Said About Sex is a solo show based on interviews where people divulged their range of sexual experiences. The show is performed by comedian and actor Steve Budd, and will be coming to KC Fringe Festival July 21 through the 26th.
Budd’s creation of What They Said About Sex is a sort of sequel to the format of his previous show, What They Said About Love. Over the course of about six months, Budd interviewed a dozen people with varying sexual orientations. Other than tweaking interview answers to anonymize and protect the subjects, Budd’s script is kept close to the original interview answers.
“I took their sexual histories and learned about their life journey in terms of their sex lives,” says Budd. “How they first learned about sex, how they lost their virginity, and some of the struggles they’ve had along the way–whether it’s with being comfortable in bed or determining their sexual orientations.”
The show’s characters include a sexually active 81-year-old woman, a gay man, a trans man, and a polyamorous woman. The characters are authentic to the people Budd interviewed, besides some embellishments to help differentiate the characters on stage. Budd’s draw to solo shows comes from his desire to play roles he otherwise would not get the opportunity to embody in other performances.
“I wouldn’t normally get cast as an 81-year-old woman,” says Budd. “In a solo show, I get to cast myself in all these different roles. I think it also conveys a certain message that we all have these different sides to ourselves.”
Budd’s goal for What They Said About Sex is to allow the audience to find relatability and humor in the characters he portrays and normalize having insecurities in the bedroom.
“We all have more things in common than we think and everybody struggles,” says Budd. “It’s great to hear other people’s journeys and find points of contact and similarity, but also the differences–which can be illuminating and interesting.”
Tickets are here, with performances starting tonight.
