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Semi-Finalist, About Face Theatre's 2010 XYZ Festival of New Work
Main Design altered from an Aubrey Beardsley drawing.
*Audience Favorite Award
A woman, spurned in love, finds a deserted island and sets herself up as
The Empress Salacia, decreeing that there shall be no love allowed in her domain, only sex.She gathers some sybaritic acolytes, and all is frolicsome mindless fun until
Salacia's ex-lover Agis comes to the island in disguise, to attempt to win her back.
The first full production of The Empress of Sex had 8 performances as part of the
"But don't let the over inflated language, stylized acting, and copious nudity fool you; playwright Duncan Pflaster has more in mind than mere silliness or titillation. Underneath the high jinks there is ample evidence of a canny dramatist intent on exploring the complex relationship between love and sex without sacrificing laughs or a genuinely touching payoff."
-Backstage
"The Empress of Sex is in many ways, Pflaster's take on a Shakespearean comedy- Twelfth Night and As You Like It immediately come to mind. Pflaster expertly uses other Shakespearean conventions-a lost letter, a dumb show, and a bard-to great comedic effect."
~ NY Theater.com
"The Empress of Sex was so exciting in its boldness, scope, bravery, & hilarity.
It was very interesting to experience a world that disassociates love from its
'former partner' sex and dares to fully examine what that entails for the specific characters
that were created. A truly enjoyable theatrical experience."
~ About Face Theatre's
XYZ Festival of New Work
2012 - Planet Connections Theatre Festivity.
Directed by Glory Kadigan
2012 Reading - Actor's Theatre of Grand Rapids
The Pipeline - New Script Series
2011 Reading - The Hive Theatre Collective
2011 Reading - * MTWorks' NewBorn Festival,
Directed by Glory Kadigan
2011 Reading - Oberon Theatre Ensemble
Directed by Joan Kane
~ NY Theater.com
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