This past weekend, members of the Colgate community performed “This Is Not A Play About Sex” in the Brehmer Theatre of the Dana Arts Center. The past two years I had seen advertisements for the play, but had never made an effort to go see it. I had always heard good things about it but simply just pushed it aside. However, this year I made a plan and stuck to it. I signed myself up for a ticket in the Coop the Wednesday before opening night, and raced over to the play after soccer practice.
It is safe to say that going to “This Is Not A Play About Sex” was one of the most enlightening experiences I have had on campus. I always think to myself that Colgate is a very small school and that I if asked, could pick out at least ten faces I know in a crowd of a hundred. Although I did recognize some members of the cast and fellow audience members, I was amazed at how many faces I truly could not identify. I had been so wrapped up in my own smaller Colgate circle that I did not realize the broader expanse of the student body. Not only did the play open my ideas to issues on campus but it also widened my knowledge of students and their talents on campus.
Do not let the title fool you! “This Is Not A Play About Sex” was most definitely a play about sex. The play focused exclusively on the sexual climate and feelings of students at Colgate. It talks openly about things most people here would never talk about, even with their closest friends. For example, one monologue personified the male genitalia and talked about what kind of music it would listen to. There was a similar monologue about the thoughts of the female genitalia and what it would say if it could speak. For some, merely saying the word vagina or penis is cringe-worthy, but it was incredible how comfortable the performers were when speaking about such controversial, taboo topics. The play focused on many of these serious issues, but largely used humor to lighten the mood of the subject matter.
Some scenes in the play had more serious undertones and were meant to evoke more profound feelings from the audience. One scene depicted a night on the cruiser; a scene where almost every Colgate student can relate. In the scene, a girl stumbled onto the cruiser and sat alone, only to be harassed by a boy throwing his body at her. When she pushed him away the boy went to the back of the bus and starting yelling at her saying she was a c**t. In the wake of this word, the entire theater fell silent. The boy repeatedly shouted this word at her, and finally grabbed her by the arm and whisked her off of the stage. The other students on the bus did not stop the boy, nor did they say anything to comfort or protect this girl.
This scene was one of the most powerful scenes in the play for me. It demonstrated the male-dominated campus that we are a part of, in addition to the lack of bystander intervention. Most Colgate students would disregard this scene and say it does not actually happen here. However, this play was written at Colgate about Colgate students, which forces the viewer to think critically about this scene and what they have experienced that is similar to this particular recreation. A common sentiment felt at Colgate is the overwhelming power of men at the university and the power that they seem to wield, even in such modern times. Additionally, Colgate students would probably say that they would intervene if situations like this happened, but the reality is that most of us have seen questionable situations like this on the cruiser and downtown without intervening. This scene made me thankful for programs like Colgate’s Bystander Intervention Program, which has been gaining popularity throughout campus. This program is an attempt to address this problem of non-intervention and passiveness at Colgate and address the problems of Colgate’s sexual climate.
“This Is Not A Play About Sex” stemmed from the mind of Christina Liu, class of 2013, who’s inspiration was to figure out the campus climate. The show was crafted from interviews that Christina conducted with students during her time at Colgate about sex, love, connection and community.
I was able to talk to a member of the cast, Courtney McGill ’16, about her experience. She explained that she wanted to be a member of the play because of the effect that the play had on its viewers. She said, “I wanted to be able to share that impact with others.” Courtney also mentioned how she was nervous about being in the play, but she said “every member of the cast made the environment comfortable and easy going.” This Is Not A Play About Sex” was done all in one month, which is an incredibly short time to put together such an impressive production.
Overall I could not praise “This Is Not A Play About Sex” any more. The ideas they speak about hit me on a personal level and I am sure many other members of the audience felt the same way. Although most people would want to dismiss the controversial topics discussed in the play, “This Is Not A Play About Sex” highlighted these issues and made sure to talk about them in order to educate the audience, not reprimand them for the collective passivity. This play was a chance for Colgate students to speak about the sexual climate and hookup culture openly and honestly, which is a rare feat on this campus. “This Is Not A Play About Sex” truly impacted me as a student on the Colgate campus and I hope the others who were able to see the performance felt the same way.