“After being handed a job as counsellor and sex-ed teacher, Krissy purposely leads a classroom full of goggle-eyed-girls down a motorway of mistakes. Fuelled by her own flaws, at a religious all-girls boarding school, she shaves away any expectation of a perfect role model.
With a desire for destruction, Krissy intentionally feeds bad advice to the hormone-riddled girls, from questionable kinks, to the swimming pools secret-sex-shack. Told by a three women ensemble, this comedic story of sex, love, and spagbol explores self-love, womanhood and growing up … as well as, vibrators, funerals, the twelve disciples, piss play and that mint shower gel. BYOB – Bring your own Bolognese.”
Katie Bignell’s Post Sex Spagbol has three actors (Bignell, Georgia Livingston and Signe Ebbesen) sharing the role of Krissy and the other characters during this drama. The set of three white oblongs which can represent various different places feels clinical; the pink signs which highlight different scenes and situations are raw and vulnerable.
Yes, this play is about sex, and growing up, but also about Krissy’s navigation through life and maturity. She does not present as someone who should be advising young girls, hardly through her own difficult puberty. This piece from Thistle & Rose Theatre, comprising this year’s East15 CT Grads, gives a frank focus to female voices.
Across 80 minutes, Caitlin Lee Smith’s production will tug at your heart as well as offering a connection to anyone watching who has been through the discovery of moving from girl to woman, and navigating the tricky paths that entails. Krissy’s deliberate detour off the expected path chips away at the norms and expectations we are schooled to believe.
Bignell’s writing captures moments we often don’t discuss through the voices of the three Krissys. You may feel uncomfortable at times, or even empowered. You’ll laugh. Krissy stands for all of us who may not always make the best decision, and in the performances of these three ladies Post Sex Spagbol is a potent piece of fringe theatre.
Post Sex Spagbol is available on-demand now from The Space following a live run from 8-10 September: purchase tickets here until 23 September.
*** (and a half)