Joyfully unmasking women’s sexuality

When a theatre show arrives with the added proviso ‘suitable for over 18’s only’ it’s guaranteed to raise a few interested eyebrows. The Telephone Shop, a one woman show written and performed by Co Cork-based Sally Elsbury is billed as “where Tantra meets Commedia dell’arte”.

The play charts the varied tale of protagonist Sandra’s disastrous love life, through pre-pubescent fumbling, to clumsy teenage exploration and later a somewhat surprising entry into the cold world of street sex work. The audience is guided through events by enigmatic Tantric sex guru Baba Lingam, who becomes a beacon of inspiration for Sandra in her quest for fulfilment and ultimately for healing.

A resident of West Cork for the past 17 years, England-born Sally Elsbury describes the show as being laced with black humour and populated with a cast of archetypal characters guaranteed to provide a thought-provoking and engaging experience.

“It is an accessible show, and certainly some people who have seen it have remarked ‘that was me up there’. That said, I think it may shock, but hopefully the comedy in it will over-ride that shock factor, as it often does.

“When people laugh at awkwardness and uncomfortable things, the humour in the piece can serve to bring them along. People nowadays have a very different view of sexuality to twenty years ago. Information is everywhere today and not hidden or censored like it was for previous generations. There is a very different psyche at play around these more sensitive issues in 2018,” she adds.

Directed and produced by Emma Kanis of Madame Voltaire’s Black Cat Cabaret of Manchester, The Telephone Shop will be performed at the Cork Arts Theatre on September 21 and 22.

Using a variety of masks, of which Elsbury is an experienced exponent as well as being a qualified drama

teacher, the show sees intermittent appearances of the powerful half-mask character, Polly Amorra, whose presence provides an eerie dimension to this tale. Some of the masks are constructed in the form of male and female genitalia.

On the first night at the Cork Arts Theatre, I’m going to do a pre-show workshop and demonstration on mask theatre and some of the techniques used in it. This will be a free event, and open to children as well, though obviously not using any of the adult sexual creations seen in the show

In light of the #Metoo campaign, Elsbury describes The Telephone Shop as “an honest piece that strives not to apportion blame, but to present the simple vulnerability of human sexual nature in a myriad of expressions.” She adds that “the subject matter is reflective of contemporary issues in the growing world of western ‘Neo-Tantra’.”

While she expects many of her friends from West Cork to support the Cork shows, Sally is cautiously hopeful that the general public will appreciate the thought-provoking themes on display.

“It is such a fringe genre, if you like, with masks in themselves quite unique, just as puppets are. However, people do tend to associate puppets and masks with children’s theatre, and so to have an adult piece with these masks will be a very different experience for some of the audience.”

As the writer and performer, Sally admits to experiencing periodic moments of self criticism and waning confidence during the show’s creation - much of which was dispelled by having organised rehearsed readings of The Telephone Shop. “It was wonderful to have gotten such positive feedback, and hear people saying ’I remember that’ or ’I felt that’. The story struck a nerve with people and prompted discussion, and really that is what it’s all about, isn’t it.”

The Telephone Shop will have two performances at Cork Arts Theatre on Sept 20 and 21, as part of Culture Night