A Guide To Sexual Misery - Arts Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
WOLFGANG Weinberger returns to the West End – to the Arts Theatre – with ‘the sexological comedy show’, A Guide To Sexual Misery – from Friday, September 10 to Saturday, November 13, 2010.
Times: Friday and Saturday at 10pm (doors open at 9.30pm), Sunday at 7.30pm (doors open at 7pm).
Previously Posted: The venue and dates for A Guide to Sexual Misery have changed. ‘The sexological comedy show’ will now run at the Duchess Theatre from December 11 to December 31, 2009.
Previously Posted: Following its success earlier this year at Leicester Square Theare, A Guide To Sexual Misery returns to the West End; this time to the Arts Theatre where it runs on selected dates between November 27 and December 31, 2009.
People seeking answers to questions such as – How often should I have sex? What do women really want? Am I too old/young/fat/beautiful/whatever for ‘it’? – could turn to self-help books, magazine agony aunts or even seek personal therapy.
Alternatively, there’s A Guide to Sexual Misery, which sees Wolfgang Weinberger delivering what is described as an hysterically funny romp through the minefield of sexual relations.
So, is A Guide to Sexual Misery a lecture, a comedy show or sex therapy? “The answer is a bit of all three”, explains Weinberger. “Some people come for the laughs, some because they think their partners will benefit and some just want to hear about other people’s sex life. But almost all rush off after the show with a few burning new ideas to attend to ASAP. This show will divide you but in the end it’ll reunite you!”
An unlikely sex expert, Weinberger graduated from the Vienna School of Economics before obtaining his MA in Filmmaking at the University of Southern California. His comedy troupe, The Killer Tomatoes, toured Austria and Germany and was awarded the Salzburger Stier, the most prestigious comedy award in the German-speaking countries. He has also directed hundreds of TV commercials and a number of TV shows, and his theatre credits include the German version of the off-Broadway hit Tony and Tina’s Wedding, which he adapted and directed.
A Guide To Sexual Misery started life as therapy by Austrian therapist Bernhard Ludwig for recovering heart attack patients, who wanted to know how soon could they start having sex again? From there it was a small step to “How often should I do it?” and on to “How should I do it?” Then someone suggested that “healthy” people might like to hear Ludwig’s views on sex too.
The first public performance in a tiny theatre was attended by 34 friends and relatives, but in just a few years the show evolved, the presentation baton was handed to Wolfgang Weinberger, and it sold out the 2,500-seat Vienna Concert Hall. Only last year, it was a sell-out success at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Tickets: Stalls: £19.50, £15, Dress Circle: £19.50, £15, £11. Performances on December 31: £30, £20, £15 (includes a complimentary cocktail).
Times: 9.50pm except December 31 when there will be two performances – at 7pm and 9pm.