More than just the Andrews Sisters with risqué lyrics, The Catalogue of Sexual Anxieties is enlightening at White Bear Theatre
“Am I sexually normal?”
From the opening invite to “strap in and strap on”, it’s clear that The Catalogue of Sexual Anxieties is not for the shy and retiring (as if the title weren’t warning enough) with questions being posed by the company – “am I sexually normal?”, “are you sex deprived? – with unabashed directness. It’s a refreshing frankness though, one that is unafraid to interrogate the preconceptions and prejudices that often accompany talk about feminine sexuality from society at large and also from ourselves.
Perhaps with this in mind, The Catalogue of Sexual Anxieties is presented as a musical cabaret, with Patrice Peyrieras’ original music drawing big inspiration from close-harmony groups like The Andrews Sisters. It’s a wonderfully disarming device, feeling mildly transgressive at every juncture like hearing a grandparent swear, but it does set a warmly inviting atmosphere that encourages us to leave any prudish thoughts in the pub below, even if just for the night.
Written and performed by the Hysterical Ladies – Aniqa Charania, Marion Poli, Charlotte Szabo – the show thus tackles a wide swathe of issues, both political and personal, raucous and reflective. From the inadequacies of sex ed classes in school to the sharing (or otherwise) of kinks and the different extent to which people embrace them, from the variety of orgasm experiences to the way strictured societal notions of sexual hygiene have been allowed to prevail.
Nothing is off the table and the conversational nature of the show – one performer sharing an anecdote and the others responding – means that there’s an essential balance to Ines Amoura’s production that really works. Arguably, the point at which a final segment about fertility is workshopped in front of us suggests it doesn’t perhaps need that chapter as well given the breadth of what has already been covered but the musical skill on show, combined with the highly candid but clear-eyed approach to the subject matter means it is an enjoyable catalogue to peruse.
