Performances of a controversial stage production called ‘The Family Sex Show’ have been cancelled following ‘unprecedented threats and abuse’. The show aimed to educate children as young as five about the human body and sex, and featured full-frontal nudity.
The production angered various groups including Mumsnet, and actor Laurence Fox’s Reclaim Party, who launched a social media campaign against the production and the theatres staging it. A petition calling for the show to be scrapped collected more than 38,000 signatures, and a campaign on social media called for theatres in Bristol and Bath to ditch performances, reports BristolLive.
Initially, in a joint statement, the Tobacco Factory Theatre in Bristol and The Egg theatre in Bath defended the production, by Norfolk-based ThisEgg. That statement said the show was ‘a fun and silly performance about the painfully awkward subject of sex, exploring names and functions, boundaries, consent, pleasure, queerness, sex, gender and relationships.’
“Using real-life bodies, personal stories, songs and movement, The Family Sex Show puts the good stuff at the forefront of conversation and imagines a future where there is no shame, but a celebration of difference, equality and liberation,” a spokesperson for the show said.
The spokesperson claimed ThisEgg had produced the content following consultation with the School of Sexuality Education, and audiences would be sent a document outlining what is included in each performance before they attend.
“ThisEgg have created The Family Sex Show to open up conversations around relationships. It is being created with input and guidance from education and safeguarding specialists. The nakedness in the show is not of a sexualised nature,” they added.
In a statement on its website, the Tobacco Factory Theatre said: “Performances of The Family Sex Show by ThisEgg at Tobacco Factory Theatres have been cancelled. This is due to the unprecedented threats and abuse directed at our building and team. We are sorry for the disappointment this causes to those who’ve booked. You will be contacted and refunds will be made available,” it added.
It is not totally clear whether the production at The Egg theatre in Bath is still going ahead. A statement on the Bath theatre’s website said the tour had been cancelled, but the performances in Bath will go ahead to ‘invited audiences’.
A spokesperson for The Reclaim Party, fronted by former Lewis star Laurence Fox, described the move as ‘an important victory’.
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