SEX & OTHER PHILOSOPHIES Comes to Adelaide Fringe in February

Brisbane/Meanjin based artist, performer and writer KAREN Lee Roberts brings her show SEX & OTHER PHILOSOPHIES to Diverse-City, in the Adelaide Fringe, for 2-shows only.

A multi-award-winning performer, writer and children’s book author, Karen has created a suite of celebrated and highly acclaimed shows exploring mental health, disability, diversity, love and self-identity. Her latest work SEX & OTHER PHILOSOPHIES turns her investigative sights towards the existential questions of the universe around relationships and sexuality.

“In this modern world of social media and screen time, people know less and less how to communicate with each other,” Karen explains, “This show takes a playful and philosophical look into sexuality, dating and relationships, and brings to the forefront how people interact with each other on an intimate level. Art imitates life, and exploring these topics through song and text in a funny and often absurd fashion allows an audience licence to delve into their own responses to these issues.”

Set in the potentially new genre of ‘pop-trash cabaret’, the show blends witty banter and original songs with heartfelt moments of vulnerability, awe and wonder all working together towards an ultimate, and relatable, search for meaning. Created in close collaboration with performer/writers Lucinda Shaw and James Halloran, the show was inspired by Karen witnessing a performance of Shaw’s at Brisbane Powerhouse.

“I had seen Lucinda in a show and afterwards, taken by her performance, said to her; ‘We should write a show and we should call it Sex & Other Philosophies! It just came to me!” says Karen, “I wanted to break down barriers between the disability and mainstream cohorts and work with outstanding industry professionals like James and Lucinda on making a quirky, stand out piece of cabaret – a work with queer overtones, delving into the existential questions of the universe around relationships and sexuality.”

“Conversations about sexuality come in waves, helping us to open up and re-experiencing fresh and satisfying versions of who we are,” adds Lucinda, “Expressions of our orientation and identity can be celebrated as essential to living our authentic lives. In the show, we create a playful and loving vibe, like adult friends behaving like kids in a trashy toybox. It’s simultaneously intelligent, sincere and satirical, teasing out some of the threads of mental meanderings in a muddled world.”

Coming hot off performances at Queensland Cabaret Festival and Pip Theatre in Brisbane in 2023, the show has been building a unique reputation amongst audiences for its honesty, playfulness and the dynamic collaboration between its three distinctive performers.

“The audience’s responses to our show are so beautiful and infectious, it makes it a pleasure to Perform,” Karen says, “They are so engaged and reactive with laughter, attentiveness and participation when asked, that it is always fun to do. Collaborating with Lucinda and James has been such a rewarding experience, I have learned so much and grown as an artist tremendously. Most of all, we just have fun and can express ourselves and be true to who we are.”

SEX & OTHER PHILOSOPHIES

Diverse-City | 163 Gouger St Adelaide, SA 5000

2 Shows Only | Fri 23 Feb (7PM), Sat 24 Feb (7PM)

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