PORN.CAKE

With a title like Porn.Cake certain reactions are unavoidable. And none of those reactions are particularly conservative, or particularly serious for that matter. It is precisely this lack of seriousness that playwright Vanessa Bates has chosen to focus on with her latest work. The exploration of love and sex in the modern world is ready to take the Griffin Theatre off into a deliciously decadent world, filled with indulgence and the search for satisfaction.

Dealing with the relationships of two couples approaching middle age – Ant and Annie and Bill and Bella – Porn.Cake, “uses dark humour to unpack some unpleasant truths about the reality of getting older,” says Bates.

It’s love in the contemporary reality: communication disrupted with text messages, indulgence disturbed by allergies, happiness peppered with rage, and the undeniable truth that no one’s willing to admit – that after a while, cake really does become the new porn. While Bates says she, “didn’t necessarily set out to write about the somewhat depressing realisation that life may have slipped her characters by, the work has turned out that way: the characters looking back in time with a certain sense of nostalgia and regret.”

Dealing with nostalgia in different ways, the play promises to be a lot of fun to watch, while at the same time giving audiences an opportunity to think about their own relationships and their journey – past and future. And of course, the chance to have their Porn.Cake and eat it too.

Jun 20-Jul 14, SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod St, Kings Cross, $23-30, 9361 3817, griffintheatre.com.au