All the Sex I’ve Ever Had

The foyer of the Drama Theatre is slightly different. Most of the seating has been removed. Several small tables are covered with memorabilia selected by the six courageous over 65 year olds who will participate in the production. They mingle with the audience prior to the show, and follow the latecomers into the theatre, taking their places, wine glasses in hand, at a panel-style conference table where they will share their lives … and sexual experiences.

All the Sex I’ve Ever Had is an attempt to “re-establish the idea of a community of elders who share their experiences and, more importantly, their vulnerabilities” (director Darren O’Connell). It was conceived by Canadian-German company Mammalian Diving Reflex and has been produced in Portland, Prague, Singapore and Scotland. It is a perfect example of their artistic aim “ … to bring people together in new and unusual ways … to create work that is engaging, challenging and gets people talking, thinking and feeling’.

Before they begin, Creative Producer Eva Verity asks the audience to stand and take a pledge:

We Sydney-siders of Sydney promise that everything that is said during ‘All the Sex I’ve Ever Had’ will stay at ‘All the Sex I’ve Ever Had’.

In a strange way this, a mirror ball – and the chutzpah of the six ordinary but extraordinarily outgoing people on the stage – seem to establish a warmth that is expectant and embracing.

As light is focused on the stage, MC Steve Toulmin begins the ‘count up’ from the early 1940s. As he comes to the year of their birth, and later to the years in which memorable or not-so-memorable events occurred, the six participants – Jennie, Judith, Liz, Paul, Peter and Ronaldo – share their beginnings, their adolescence, their sexual exploits and escapades … and the related challenges they faced along the way.

They are all engagingly open and honest – and, at times, seek and receive, similar openness from the audience. Their presentation – pace, pause, timing, emotion – is dramatically framed but appears appealingly natural. Their stories mix humour and joy, hurt and grief. They have been carefully edited into succinct episodic monologues punctuated by short bursts of popular music, each of which introduces a new decade.

This combination – and the evident, eager anticipation of the audience – works effectively to achieve a level of acceptance and respect that is certainly not usually afforded the ‘elders’ of our community. By being brave enough to step up and bare nearly all Jennie, Judith, Liz, Paul, Peter and Renaldo link youth and age, past and present. Their messages are strong: ‘oldies’ have been there, done most of it, and enjoyed it immensely; but they’ve learnt from it and are happy to share … given the chance.  

Carol Wimmer

Photographer: Prudence Upton