f**kplays
A voyeuristic journey through eight playwrights’ most private places and a sincere examination of our most basic carnal desires.
From American Apparel ads to Sex and the City, we live in a world where consumer marketing runs by the dictum: ”sex sells!” But in a society where explicit sex and pornography have veered ever closer to the mainstream, do we have a more unrealistic view of sex than ever before? How do we really do it? Talk about it? Fight about it? Ultimately, what does sex mean to you? Over sixty playwrights from across the country submitted plays in response to that question, which were painstakingly narrowed down to the eight best—a provocative cross-section encompassing fantasy, fetishism, humor, myth, submission, voyeurism, violence, and love.
History
March 28 – April 27, 2007
Galapagos Art Space and the Ohio Theatre
Presented by Working Man’s Clothes, The Thursday Problem, Soho Think Tank, and Galapagos Art Space in association with Jeffrey Schulman
Awards
3 NYIT Award Nominations:
Outstanding Original Short Script - Wood - Justin Cooper
Outstanding Original Short Script - Arms and the Octopus - Casey Wimpee
Outstanding Actor in a Featured Role - Arms and the Octopus - Julian James
Press
Monsters and Critics feature on fuckplays.
Reviews
“Enjoyable and clever… In the evening’s best two works, the theme of mutual erotic satisfaction is a surprisingly biting commonality… A smiling, clueless couple in Eric Sanders’s 1.1–1.7 explore the dirtier sides of sex with partners who use (and perhaps abuse) them.”
- Amanda Cooper, Time Out New York
“Do not be put off by the overtly provocative title. fuckplays is real theater and serious business – seriously funny, for one thing. The eight short plays that comprise it are all about sex, but unlike the real thing may do, they neither disappoint nor try too hard. It’s an evening of real excitement, putting one in mind of headier eras in picturesque countries where live theater had the power to make audiences go nuts… Its played-sort-of-for-laughs gore brings us to the evening’s closer: Eric Sanders’s gross, lunatic 1.1-1.7. Directed by Stephen Brackett… this crazily inventive two-character play is a miniature epic of nauseating foulness – and true love. Told in a stutter of short scenes, with nothing but plain words, between Richie (Cole Wimpee) and Donna (Nell Mooney) – two heroic performers – the play gives new meaning to the phrase ‘disgustingly sweet.’ Cathartic, nay, emetic, it’s simply brilliant.”
- Jon Sobel, Blogcritics
“Marvelously produced and acted… The presentation of the plays is gorgeous; there is no awkward waiting around between scenes, as many things are done in front of the audience (including actors changing, lounging about in underwear during intermission)…1.1-1.7: Written by Eric Sanders, directed by Stephen Brackett: A funny piece about a young couple who are completely honest with each other about their bizarre extra-relationship affairs. Cole Wimpee and Nell Mooney are adorable and amusingly deadpan as they describe to each other their progressively more degenerate liaisons. The play goes very far with graphically descriptive language; it’s played for comedy, but I was afraid some of the audience members behind me were going to vomit at one point.”
- Duncan Pflaster, Broadway World
“The fuckplays is a series of eight short plays featuring everything from the sublime to the ridiculous to the disgusting to the religiously philosophical. Though the program ranges in interest-grabbing content and execution, overall the event is a laugh-a-minute journey through the sexual oddities and curiosities of 8 sets of characters… closes with the outrageous and hilarious 1.1-1.7, a short study in a couple’s lewd and crude extra-relationship behavior… I had a great time at fuckplays. It is edgy, outrageous and fun, but it is also professionally executed. A team of skilled writers, directors and actors has come together, created a synergy, and delivers a program that unapologetically pushes boundaries. Bravo to that!”
- Kessa De Santis, ELJ All Arts Annex
“Eric Sanders’ 1.1-1.7 works best because of its tight writing and direction and the flawless timing of actors Cole Wimpee and Nell Mooney.”
- Tom Penketh, Backstage
“A great showcase for a variety of budding acting and writing talents… Eric Sanders’s 1.1 – 1.7 closes the show, and is good choice of send-off: though its “can you top that?” gross-outs benefit from a very taut production (Stephen Brackett directed) and the perfect delivery of stars Nell Mooney and Cole Wimpee.”
- Doug Strassler, Monsters and Critics
“fuckplays was a delight. I found myself laughing about 80 percent of the time I was there—which I guess is a good sign that I’m not as uptight as I thought I was about sex. But a couple of the darker plays urged me to think a little more deeply about human relationships and the expectations some attach to The Act. My favorite was definitely 1.1-1.7, a sardonic tale of a couple in which both partners go astray and actually talk about it in gross detail…all the time. Don’t worry, this one, unlike some of the others, has a happy(ish) ending.”
- Lisa, Brooklyn Record
“Thoughtful, entertaining, funny, and quite smart… fuckplays provides a fresh, creative outlook on sex, sexuality, and the way it interacts with our lives.”
- Lux Nightmare, Sexerati
“Four and a half stars (out of five)… Never underestimate the power of a good title. I was curtly chided for showing up a few minutes after 7:30 to collect my ticket and was put on stand-by status as the house was completely sold out. Happily, there was one seat left for me and happily this collection of 8 lusty short plays by 8 lusty playwrights was as slutty and fun as its title. Ranging from naughty to downright crass, every one of these plays was actually very well written and very well performed… And the final play’s dialogue was so hysterically raunchy (‘…she shit in my mouth!… about two shot glasses full’) that I would like to ask the playwright’s hand in marriage. The ‘lights up!’/crew exposed/’cue the bed!’ cacophony in between the scenes made us feel like we were on the set of a porn shoot. Great idea!”
- David Bell, Show Showdown
