Review: 1972: THE FUTURE OF SEX, TheSpace On North Bridge

The year is 1972 and sex is on the mind. Obvious, perhaps, by the title. The show follows six young, and one not so young, characters in the year of polyester and Ziggy Stardust, with hopes of having sex for the first time tonight.

Christine thinks tonight is the night with Rich, Penny hopes to bed her teacher, Anna wishes to unleash her repressed sexuallity with Tessa and Anthony is grappling with their gender.

Originally devised by The Wardrobe Ensemble, this show is produced by the Woodplayers Theatre Company. It begins with eight chairs on stage - and if you are lucky enough the show might open with Fringe punters mistaking them for audience seats and swiftly being told to shift it - before music of the 70s begins to blare from the PA system.

From this point on the music will be one of the few things keeping this 50-minute comedy in the very era that the entire show revolves around. The cast and crew make an amicable effort to sport costumes of the time but the budget - or lack thereof - does not stretch to convincing costumes.

In the same vein the original book devised by the Wardrobe Ensemble makes hardly any effort to write dialogue that may sound even remotely 70s. No slang, just a "radical" here and a "groovy" there and that is it. Granted, the Woodplayers Theatre Company may not have devised the play but it is apparant that they certainly haven't revised it either.

In spite of the play's poor attempts to convice us that it takes place in the 70s, the stories that are intertwined throughout the play are very engaging. Specifically, the story of Penny and her teacher is a highlight.

Penny's relationship with her teacher is an issue, but not one that the play ever shies away from, although it does tackle it in a pleasantly subtle manner. The issue of the age gap and of the clear power dynamic between the two is only brought up through another student's suspicions, but also through the actions of her teacher. Penny's feelings for him are relatively simple, shown as though it were a school girl crush. Due to her age this does not seem out of character, whereas the teacher acts the same way. He is a grown man, acting like a child. It feels like a trap, an abuse of power.

Juliette Willis is excellent as Penny, using her body to project her feelings towards the older man and her eyes to show the innocence hidden behind her actions. Her natural charisma too makes Penny a likeable character, one which engages us further into the play, packing a tighter punch for the shows climax.

Come this climax, the show's message is made clear through the successes - or failures - of each characters sexual antics. Naive as each character was about sex and about their futures, this reflects the hopes and dreams those of the 70s had for today. They hoped for further acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community, sexual liberation, equality. So naive.

In spite of the pitfalls of this production of 1972: The Future of Sex, the end message is a powerful one that puts a mirror up to the audience and asks them why we as a society have failed to meet the expectations of previous generations.

A solid production that is not without its problems, but is full of good performances and an energetic cast. Definitely not a waste of a tenner.

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