Sex and Shame in Toronto Solo Theatre

Sex has long been a subject for stage work, but the one-person format gives it a particular edge. With a single performer, an audience has nowhere else to look, and themes such as embarrassment, appetite and self-image land at close range. Solo shows on sexuality, staged in Toronto in the early 2010s, show how emerging artists used that format.

Many of these pieces premiered during the Rhubarb Festival, an annual showcase of new and experimental performance that has been presented by Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, a Toronto company known for queer-centred programming.

A festival built for new work

Rhubarb is designed as a testing ground. Short and mid-length pieces run in rotation, and artists often present material that is still taking shape. The festival runs for several weeks in winter. For many performers it is a first chance to see how an unfamiliar audience responds to risky material.

Emerging artists often come to such festivals through mentorship programs for young creators, in which established artists work with a cohort and leave each member room to develop an individual working method.

Themes in solo work on sexuality

Solo shows of this kind often grow out of years of thinking about self-love, shame, bodies and identity. A frequent claim in artists' comments is that sex runs through everyday life and is tied to power, which is produced in ordinary activities. That view echoes a long tradition in cultural studies and feminist thought, where sexuality is treated as a social force rather than a private pastime.

Slogans and themes in these shows often celebrate freedom from shame and the idea of being already complete.

Owning the stage

One challenge performers name is the question of owning power on stage. Enjoying an audience's attention can sit uneasily beside a worry about seeming self-important, a tension familiar to many people who perform. Mentorship and rehearsal processes can help artists work through it.

Sex-positive performance in context

Shows of this kind belong to a broader current in Canadian theatre, cabaret and burlesque that frames frank talk about bodies as a matter of public health, humour and self-acceptance. Supporters describe such work as a counterweight to stigma. Critics of the wider sex-positive movement sometimes argue that it can sideline people for whom sex is complicated or painful, so audiences and commentators take a range of positions.

Festival slots are typically short, often with only a few performances of each piece, and programs change each year.