The End of Sex

Reviewed by Terry Morgan
The Victory Theatre Center
Through June 2

There are at least two pitfalls for “a play of ideas” — that is, the kind of piece that George Bernard Shaw made his name on and that is specifically created to discuss and debate a particular issue. The first pitfall is that this sort of play can be talky and dry, all intellect and no plot, something Shaw was accused of more than once. The other is that the characters in these types of plays can easily come to resemble mere mouthpieces for a point of view rather than three-dimensional human beings we can identify with.

The End of Sex, Gay Walch’s new play currently receiving a spirited production at the Victory Theatre Center, manages to avoid the first pitfall but doesn’t quite clear the second one.

Longtime married couple Nancy (Sara Botsford) and Ken (Tom Ormeny) are awaiting the arrival of their adult daughter Heather (Austin Highsmith) and her husband Ryan (Chad Coe). It’s Nancy’s birthday, and Ken has bought her a bouquet of flowers, but she’s not happy. She announces that she’s decided she’s done with having sex. Ken is confused, then angry, and brings the topic up when Heather and Ryan arrive. Things heat up, people take sides, and before the play is over, both marriages are put through a serious stress test.

As Ken, Ormeny is charming and credible portraying the man’s confusion and occasional crankiness with understated skill (despite a character change toward the play’s end that seems shoehorned in by the playwright to make a point). Highsmith gives a smart, high-energy performance as the ambitious Heather, displaying multiple levels within her complex role. Coe is terrific and charismatic as the unhappy Ryan, demonstrating real stage presence, and his contentious scenes with Highsmith are the highlights of the show. As Nancy, Botsford has what is likely the most important part in the play, but unfortunately it’s written in a single note of deepening anger that gives her less emotional range to work with, compared to the other characters.

Director Maria Gobetti gets strong work from her ensemble but can’t quite get past an imbalanced script. For a play of ideas, the writing doesn’t disappoint; the topics Walch brings up are provocative and interesting and easy to relate to. One example is challenging the notion that a married couple must have sexual relations throughout their entire lives together, expressed in Nancy’s plaint: “I’ve been a good sport for thirty-plus years. Don’t I deserve a retirement?”

Walch’s dialogue is witty and sharp and deals effectively with such issues as father/daughter relationships, the differing views of feminism depending on one’s generation, and the idea of “selling out.”

That said, while three of the four main characters in the play (Lianna Liew is quite good in a smaller role as young surfer Sierra) are detailed and feel real, the main character of Nancy seems more a viewpoint than a person. This is unfortunate, because the things she talks about are valid, and in my experience rarely if ever heard discussed in theatre or modern culture in general.

Perhaps a rewrite could address this character’s limitations, since overall The End of Sex is funny, well-acted and thought-provoking.

The Victory Theatre, 3326 W. Victory Blvd., Burbank; Fri.- Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 4 p.m.; through Jun. 2. www.thevictorytheatrecenter.org. Running time: approximately one hour and 50 minutes with an intermission.