Belvoirs B Sharp’s ‘7 Blowjobs’, co-produced with Frogbattleship productions, was a play written by American playwright Mac Wellman. Lee Lewis directed the play which Wellman wrote in protest at the need, at the time, for artists to complete a so called decency test when applying for grants made under America’s National Endowment for the Arts.

The plays’ scenario sees a series of seven graphic photos of party affiliates enjoying blow jobs, arrives at the office of Republican Senator Bob. Bob’s staffers can’t are stunned and go into panic mode. When the Senator is shown the photos he goes bananas, and demands to get the bottom of it.

I wasn’t a fan of this latest B Sharp production. The play felt very Bible belt, redneck American and did not feel particularly relevant to our local situation. The sexual mores and attitudes felt dated. The play was very slow to begin with. The characters were overblown and felt unreal. Movement around the stage was stilted. Sure, the play had things to say about sexual and class hypocrisies, egocentric politicians, and the like, but it was defeated by a very dense, wordy script. A number of times the actors had to negotiate long, turgid speeches.

My one bouquet goes to the cast who deserved a better play. They gave strong, committed performances, and made the evening worthwhile. Terry Serio was great to watch as Senator Bob, in a performance similar in style to Billy Bob Thornton’s performance as the American president in Richard Curtis’s film ‘Love Actually’.

Belinda Bromilow’s portrayal of receptionist Dot was suitably ditzy…Drayton Morley’s turn as frenzied television evangelist Tom was a stand out. Kate Box captured the insecurity of her character, Bob’s admin assistant, Eileen.

(c) David Kary