The Sex Lives Of Puppets – Blind Summit / Southwark Playhouse Borough, London

Blind Summit take inspiration from real interviews to create The Sex Lives of Puppets, exploring sexuality and sexual wellbeing in all its forms.

Content warning: discusses sexual themes, obviously!

The Sex Lives of Puppets

Two older men describe their sex life in a care home. An actress talks about the importance of being seen as attractive. Fetishes. Dirty talk. ‘Gratuitous Puppet Sex Scenes’. The Sex Lives of Puppets, by theatre company Blind Summit, covers it all. Or uncovers it all, as the case may be.

Audiences at the Southwark Playhouse know what they’re in for from the outset. Well, the title rather gives it away. But the source may come as a surprise to some: Mark Down and Ben Keaton have mined the National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles – amongst the largest surveys of sexual behaviour in the world – for inspiration. Real people’s sexual experiences are thus at the heart of this exploration of puppet sexuality.

The method of bringing these stories to life is simple. A range of puppets, skillfully manipulated by Down, Isobel Griffiths, Simon Scardifeld and Dale Wylde, address the audience. They respond to prompts, things like “Can you tell us a little more about that?” or “What is a cum blob?”. Each puppet takes a minimum of two puppeteers to animate – the cast of four, dressed in black, are like a living backdrop to these funny, titillating and frequently touching stories.

Puppetry Like You Haven’t Seen Before

Or perhaps you have: if you saw the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games, you’ve seen Blind Summit’s work before. But I digress. What I wanted to say was that I’ve perhaps seen more adult puppetry than most. I love the London International Mime Festival (now MimeLondon) which usually features various companies using puppetry. And have seen several shows even in the last year which incorporate puppets. In my experience, a show using puppets means it will be creative, fun, and will subvert my expectations.

What I found interesting about Blind Summit’s approach is how relatable the puppets were. How with a few words and gestures the puppeteers conjured the relationships between puppets, and each puppet’s inner monologue, insecurities, hopes and fears. When discussing something as personal and often emotional as sex, this is an important skill indeed. It helps the audience to connect with the wide range of characters before them. And makes the interludes of purely physical puppet comedy all the funnier in contrast. Overall this makes for a show which is as thoughtful and thought-provoking as it is side-splittingly funny.

And what better way to start the new year than with a show that is fresh, funny, naughty and heartfelt? The Sex Lives of Puppets is all of these things in good measure: it will undoubtedly get you thinking about what goes on behind closed (puppet) doors.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 4/5

The Sex Lives of Puppets on until 13 January 2024 – more info here