Sex Drive
- Written by: Lorae Parry and Pinky Agnew
- Directed by: Jane Waddell
- Circa One
- 15 October − 12 November
Love, Lust and Lotto.
World Premiere
Sex Drive is a fast-paced comedy that tells the story of three women who work in the Pack ‘n’ Pullet Poultry Factory. Their Lucky Clucky Chicken Plucking Syndicate wins a second division Lotto prize… and so Sex Drive is born. A mobile sex shop created by women, for women.
They find they have skills they had never imagined – but the Sex Drive truck runs out of luck when it rolls up against Christian sensibilities on one side and City Council bylaws on the other. The tension builds in a battle of wits. Love is won and lost and all is revealed in a rollicking grand finale…
Sex Drive is co-written by two iconic Wellington women – Lorae Parry and Pinky Agnew. This is their third collaboration (The Truth about Love, The Candidates) Both women have received the MNZM for services to the Performing Arts.
Warning: Adult themes
Running time: 2 hours and 15 minutes (including a 15 minute interval)
Presented by Arrangement with Playmarket.
Part of the REAL New Zealand Festival.
Many thanks to d.vice for your generous sponsorship of Sex Drive.
The Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards honour Wellington's best on and off stage talent, their contribution to the arts and the community. Established in 1992 and sponsored by law firm Chapman Tripp, the prestigious awards are the main highlight of Wellington's art and social calendar. The annual presentations also recognise important contributions to the arts and the community. For more information, please visit www.chapmantripptheatreawards.org.nz.
Cast and crew
Starring Geraldine Brophy, Lyndee-Jane Rutherford, Emma Kinane, Nikki MacDonnell, Tim Spite and Kate Harcourt.
Show times
15 October − 12 November
Tuesday and Wednesday 6.30pm
Thursday to Saturday 8.00pm
Sunday 4.00pm
Running time: 2 hours and 15 minutes (including a 15 minute interval)
Ticket prices
$46 Adults
$38 Concessions
$33 Friends of Circa (to 27 October)
$39 Groups 6+
$36 Groups 20+
$25 Under 25s
$25 Specials Friday 14 October and Sunday 16 October
Reviews
Sex Drive Cruises in Fourth Gear But Finally Hits Turbo
By Laurie Atkinson, The Dominion Post, 17 October 2011
The funniest scene in Sex Drive is the finale when this rambling and not exactly subtle comedy suddenly explodes like a fizzing bottle of champagne. At times it seemed that the traditional cheeky sit-com jokes and situations and its one or two flaccid moments were unlikely to provide a satisfactory climax. The first night audience was ecstatic.
Though structured on a How to Succeed in Business manual as well as the problems in the private lives of the three female protagonists, the underlying thrust of the comedy is that women should be able to lead their lives, particularly their sex lives, for pleasure and free from any guilt, shame and embarrassment that society and male attitudes have traditionally imposed upon them.
The three women all work in a chicken processing factory and when their Lucky Clucky Chicken Plucking Syndicate wins Lotto they discover that their dreams will not come true because they won only $10,000. They eventually work up a scheme to make money by pooling their winnings and starting up a mobile sex shop with home-made sex toys.
They have to overcome the machinations of the factory boss (Tim Spite) and the nosey, neighbouring bible-bashers (Kate Harcourt/Nikki MacDonnell) and the restrictions placed on local trading in the suburbs by the Wellington City Council. Fortuitously Sylvie (Geraldine Brophy), the power-house of the trio, has a son, Lance (Tim Spite), who works for the Council and he is also a dab hand at truck maintenance.
The other two women, Chrissy (Emma Kinane) and Dawn (Lyndee-Jane Rutherford), as well as Sylvie, are good with their hands and soon they are making such intriguing items as Peek-a-Boo Panties, Bonking Butterflies and Post-Coital Lollipops as well as importing many mechanical devices and silicone dildos, one type of which is called Dick Whittington who loves his Pussy, which reminiscent of the level of humour from Are You Being Served?
Andrew Foster has created an amazing streamlined and cavernous factory setting that easily allows for multiple locations, though by using the entire Circa stage the actors' voices at times get lost as a great deal of the action takes place mid-stage. Jane Waddell's production has some inspired moments such as Kate Harcourt and Nikki MacDonnell's tandem walks across the stage. The cast of regular Circa actors are in fourth gear for the drive and get into fifth gear for the finale.
Other Reviews
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