Theatre News

Sexual Misery Returns for Weekend Dates at Arts

A Guide to Sexual Misery returns to the West End next month for another attempt at solving Britons’ bedroom problems. Austrian “sexicological comedy” lecture opens, for weekend performances only, at the Arts Theatre on 17 September 2010 (previews from 10 September), running at 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 7.30pm on Sundays until 13 November.

A Guide to Sexual Misery was created by Austrian therapist Bernhard Ludwig as therapy for recovering heart attack patients, who wanted to know how long before they could start having sex again. The project evolved into a hit comedy in Austria, selling out the 2,500-seat Vienna Concert Hall.

Part lecture, part comedy, part therapy, the stage show is presented by unlikely “sexpert” Wolfgang Weinberger, who seeks to provide answers to burning questions such as “how often should I have sex?”, “what do women really want?” and “am I too old/young/fat/beautiful/whatever for ‘it’?”.

In the UK, A Guide to Sexual Misery had a run at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008. In 2009, it transferred to London, initially running for four months over the summer at the Leicester Square Theatre and then for late nights at the Duchess Theatre over Christmas. That festive stint was originally meant to be at the Arts Theatre but the show had to move due to scheduling conflicts.