Vaginismus. Kegels. Abuse as a child. Missing libido. Married Sex is a very personal one-woman show, and it takes guts to put these things out there in front strangers. Probably more guts are needed to put them out in front of friends. At 46 years of age, Zam is finally married and, from honeymoon on, she tells the (part fact, part fiction) story of her tricky struggle with sex within her relationship.
A large artistic team supported by staff from Theater J, which commissioned Zam to develop the play through their Locally Grown Festival, backs the production. Zam’s team even includes a dialect coach who helped with the foreign accents she delivers when playing a sex help guru and ladies who gather regularly for brunch to talk about their sex lives, or lack thereof. I wish director Shirley Serotsky had elicited from Zam a more natural delivery when she is not toying with French, Czech, and New Jersey accents, but playing the role of Laura Zam. In the role of herself, Zam is sing-songy, plagued by that overly theatrical delivery. That was just fine in Capital Fringe 2011, when she put on an hour with phony motivational speaker Ken Johnson. Here I’d like to see a tighter script, as the play drags on unnecessarily past its stated 75 minutes, and more of the real Zam than what I feel is a slight caricature of her.
Perhaps with the intensity of what she’s sharing, the affected voice is needed as a sort of mask, a way to share what is otherwise too difficult. In a scene between Zam, her husband, and their marriage counselor, the doctor suggests she is talking to the audience and asks her to keep it between the three of them in the shrink’s office. So perhaps the mask is in fact part of the true face of the artist and her story.
Zam has hosted women’s only sex brunches like the ones she features in the play. An upcoming one, in association with the show, will include a presentation on women’s health and sexuality, and a facilitated group discussion with a Zam and a psychologist who specializes in sex. The brunches and the show are tools for talking about and gaining power over uncomfortable issues and healing in a safe space, which are wonderful aims. Married Sex would benefit from Zam being a little more in the play as she is, I suspect, over quiche and mimosas.
Remaining performances:
Thursday, July 25, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, July 26, 11:45 p.m.
Saturday, July 27, 4:45 p.m.
At Fort Fringe – Bedroom, 612 L Street NW
Get tickets here.
Women’s Sex Brunch tickets are $45 and available here. The brunch will take place on July 28 at Petits Plats in Woodley Park.
