Theatre News

Duchess Guides Audiences to Xmas Sexual Misery

Talk about an alternative Christmas show. Audiences visiting the Duchess Theatre this Yuletide season can stay on after the 7.30pm showing of Morecambe, the one-man tribute to late comedian Eric Morecambe, for Austrian “sexicological comedy” lecture A Guide to Sexual Misery, which will run from 11 to 31 December 2009, with performances at 9.50pm.

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, followed by a four-month London run this past spring/summer at the Leicester Square Theatre. For Christmas, it was originally due to run for a month of late nights from 30 November 2009 at the Arts Theatre but had to move venues due to scheduling conflicts.