The provocative, punny title, combined with my interest in hearing women speak frankly about their sexuality in contemporary society led me to believe that this would be a performance I could identify with, laugh along with and – most importantly – be entertained by. Sadly, this one woman show by American comedienne Cameryn Moore let me down a hell of a lot.
Cameryn is obviously an accomplished performer, demonstrating some fine acting skills and a likeability that garnered her favour with the audience. I just wish that it contained more subtle humour.
My first gripe was how lazy it seemed. I’m all for minimalism in theatre and for ‘breaking the fourth wall’ by including the audience into the performance space. However, Slut (r)evolution seemed to maintain a perplexing wobble between the two, with a scruffy armchair, a cup of coffee – probably to aid the ‘conversational’ tone – the grubby blank walls of the stage itself and some bizarrely placed items of clothing that, naturally, had to be folded before starting the show. Minimalism and colloquialism work well in performance; however these two words should not equate to laziness with aesthetic choices, especially in a theatre as wonderfully versatile as the Marlborough.
The stories were inevitably meant to shock – especially if viewed alongside the poster and the raunchy title – however the stories were disappointingly mundane. Cameryn’s ‘scandalous’ sexual encounters, focusing mainly on BDSM, masturbation and bisexuality, come as nothing new to the city of Brighton, a city full of sexual liberation – with Brighton’s famous male-only sauna lurking mere minutes from the venue. Very few of Cameryn’s sexual exploits could be described as shocking or particularly entertaining.
Despite this, the delivery was fairly impressive. Cameryn is obviously an accomplished performer, demonstrating some fine acting skills and a likeability that garnered her favour with the audience. I just wish that it contained more subtle humour, as the only jokes that provoked a giggle in the audience were the crude, obvious ones – fine in a show, as long as they aren’t relied upon solely for laughs. For me, the funniest bit occurred during a scene wherein Cameryn acted out a story about her masturbating with a certain, phallic root vegetable. A male audience member decided to nip out to go to the toilet just before the ‘action’ started, leading him to nervously hover in the door upon his return – trying desperately not to thieve attention from Cameryn simulating an orgasm underneath a duvet cover.
Overall, I was thoroughly disappointed by a show that I really wanted to enjoy. It earned an extra star partly through the powerful stage presence of Cameryn Moore and my desire to invest in a performance that frankly discusses sexuality in a world where female promiscuity is widely condemned. This aside, the performance had good intentions but was, unfortunately, bland – go see if you enjoy laughing at funny words for genitals.
