UWG Hosted the 27th Version of Episodes in Sexuality

The UWG Theatre Company and the Responsible Sexuality Committee hosted the 27th version of Episodes in Sexuality. The play was held at the Townsend Center Dangle Theatre from Mar. 7-10th. This year’s version of the play was directed by Matthew Williams, a senior at UWG. 

         Episodes in Sexuality is a production that is held each year at UWG. The play is created and directed by students. Over the course of several weeks, the students carefully planned and improvised to create a production-ready play. The play is completely different each year and the only aspect that is consistent is the theme. Episodes in Sexuality always focuses on different issues of sexuality, whether it is sexuality or gender identity. This year’s edition of the show focused on multiple aspects of sexuality. 

         “Episodes in Sexuality focuses on college students struggles with sexuality, sexual identity, and finding their place of acceptance in society,” said Isaiah Clinton, an actor in the play.  

          The play focused on five characters that represented different issues that relate to sexuality. Virgin, the main character played by Starlynn Freeman, is a young naive woman to all aspects of sexuality and gender identity. Throughout the play, she is informed about sex through the four other characters. Cassie Hulette, a sophomore at UWG, played the character Femme Fatale. Femme Fatale is a woman who works in the sex industry and is confident in her sexuality. 

          Because of her experience, she was able to help Virgin learn about her own sexuality. The character Saboteur was played by Courtney Rose Roberts, a senior at UWG. The character Saboteur is a woman who is promiscuous and ends up contracting a sexually transmitted disease. Sydney Warren, a freshman, played Alchemist. Alchemist is a transgender man, and he helps educate Virgin on being a transgender person and the issues they face. The last supporting character King was played by Clinton. King serves as an antagonist in the play. King represents a man who is very hyper masculine and misogynistic. 

          The cast and the director started from nothing when they first made the play. The crew did not use a script for the play and most of it was done from improvisation. The lack of a script proved to be difficult for some of the cast members.  

          “The hardest and most scary thing for me was not having a script,” said Clinton. “This forced me to be able to trust in myself and my ability in order to perform the role. After a while, it became more natural to me.” 

         The play has become a tradition for the university. Sexuality and sexual identity has become a very discussed topic in recent years, but some people are still uninformed or to the topic.  

         “Our society makes it so taboo to talk about sex,” said Clinton. “The topic of sexuality needs to be discussed. Everyone does it, so I believe it is important that we are comfortable talking about it.” 

          The play was welcomed to great reception the three nights that it was shown. The show was packed each night and the cast received standing ovations. Episodes in Sexuality took a serious and complex topic with sexuality and transformed it into an entertaining production.