Bloomington Playwright Project brings ‘Sex/Death’ to stage for 7th year

Opening her eyes, sophomore Suzie Zimmerman finds herself lying next to a man she doesn’t recognize. Getting out of bed, she sees her clothes scattered across the room as she stands in the middle of the stage, baring all.

This is just one of many scandalous scenes put on by the Bloomington Playwrights Project’s seventh annual presentation of “Sex/Death.”

Chad Rabinovitz, producing artistic director for the BPP, said the theater puts on “Sex/Death” every year as part of the Dark Alley Series. This year the name has been changed to “Sex/Death XXX” to commemorate the BPP’s 30th anniversary season, Rabinovitz said.

“The Dark Alley Series shows things that are too edgy for the main stage,” he said.
The BPP will be presenting “Sex/Death XXX” at 10 p.m. today until Saturday and Dec. 14 to 16 at the BPP. “Sex/Death” is a combination of nine short plays featuring one-night stands, homicide, fetishes and imprisonment.

Rabinovitz said these shows are not for everyone.

“We are trying to reach a younger demographic with this production,” he said.

For the main stage, he said there is always the usual demographic, but hopefully with these shows the younger generation will see that theater is very cool.

“These shows are exposing people to things they all know but don’t feel comfortable talking about,” Zimmerman said.

She said the opening play of the night, “Pre Show,” really conveys what “Sex/Death” is about.

“Why can’t art be sexually arousing?” said actress Shannon Walsh during her scene from “Pre Show.”

Zimmerman and Walsh are just two of the actresses tackling the racy theme.

Kathleen Walker is another actress whose characters take her from being suicidal in “A Pressing Problem” to mourning her dead husband and sleeping with her husband’s mistress in “Ashes to Snatches, Dust to Bust.”

“You have to be able to have fun with these parts,” Walker said. “If not, it will show you are uncomfortable.”

She said for her it was difficult trying to find where her characters came from. But the most difficult and risque parts of the characters proved to be a great challenge.

“You don’t just wake up one day and say, ‘I want to do lewd things with an urn,’” she said, referencing one of her scenes from “Ashes to Snatches, Dust to Bust.”

Rabinovitz said “Sex/Death XXX” is not the only show honoring the 30th anniversary season. There are still all of the main stage shows for everyone to come  and see.

“Sex/Death is not your traditional show,” he said. “It’s programmed for a younger audience.”