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LGBTQIA+ seniors open up for All The Sex I've Ever Had during Sydney WorldPride

Titi Chartay has had some "absolutely sublime sexual encounters". (ABC Radio Sydney: Rosemary Bolger)

"I'm still hot to trot," 65-year-old Titi Chartay says, grinning.

She plans to make the most of being single during Sydney WorldPride.

"I suspect I might show a couple of visitors a good time," she says.

"I can be just as energetic I think as when I was younger."

Ms Chartay has always discussed sex freely, but this week she's taking that openness to a new level.

She's one of six Sydney LGBTQIA+ seniors who will reveal intimate details from their life in front of strangers in a show called All The Sex I've Ever Had.

The participants rehearse ahead of opening night on Tuesday at Darlinghurst Theatre. (ABC Radio Sydney: Rosemary Bolger)

Year by year, members of the diverse cast give snippets of what they have been doing in the bedroom — or in the sex club or between bookshelves, as the case may be.

"I've had some absolutely sublime sexual encounters," Ms Chartay, an activist and writer, says.

"I have been privileged to have had in my lifetime some very beautiful, intelligent women in my life — both in short-term and also in long-term relationships."

The show has been the creation of the Canadian theatre company Mammalian Diving Reflex, which first staged the performance with over-65s in 2010.

This is the first all-queer cast.

'That's what makes me gay'

Barry Charles brings some of the more X-rated content to the show.

"I think that sometimes when people talk about gay rights, and so on, they forget about the crucial element; that we enjoy sex with each other," he says.

"I'm not into soft furnishings and fashion design.

"I like sex with men. That's what makes me gay."

Barry Charles says society is still too prudish when it comes to talking about sex. (ABC Radio Sydney: Rosemary Bolger)

The 72-year-old had no trouble remembering key events and moments in relationships from each year of his life.

"[These are] very important people in my life, that changed my life at the time and changed me as a person over time," he says.

"So you don't forget stuff as important as that."

For Mr Charles, 1976 was a particularly big year. He met his soulmate, Josh.

"He was an American and, through him, I was able to go to America and discover my particular fetish for watersports," Mr Charles says.

Powerful moments

The production is far from all orgasms and romance.

While Mr Charles was at sex clubs, Peter Murphy was training to be a Catholic priest.

He decided celibacy was not for him.

"I ended up having a crush on someone and I felt like I had committed a mortal sin because I hurt them," Mr Murphy says.

He is no longer religious and rejects the shame and sinfulness that religion often applies to sex.

"Religion based on fear is hopelessly wrong," he says.

The cast's wildly different experiences make the times when their stories do converge all the more powerful — like the first Mardi Gras in 1978 when protesters were attacked and arrested by police.

There is much pain and hurt from affairs, homophobia, break-ups and the shocking tragedy of the AIDS crisis.

Looking back on his sexual encounters, from early experiences with women to affairs with married men, Mr Murphy has found himself considering things more from the other person's point of view.

Peter Murphy was training to be a Catholic priest before realising celibacy was not for him. (ABC Radio Sydney: Rosemary Bolger)

"I'm thinking about one of my very first encounters," he says.

"It was a woman and what was she thinking?

"I think I've had a little bit of insight whereas, mostly, [in the past] I've just been embarrassed by what I was doing."

Mr Murphy, whose current girlfriend will be at opening night at Darlinghurst Theatre Company, finds the concept of the show "a little bit weird".

In a society obsessed with youth, All The Sex I've Ever Had puts the spotlight on people aged 65+. (ABC Radio Sydney: Rosemary Bolger)

He says sharing memories with the group has been a challenge.

"It's a little bit on the sort of purple side, but I thought I'd go with it," he says.

"I really wanted to do something special for Sydney WorldPride."

The 69-year-old hopes that hearing his and the cast's experiences may provide some reassurance for young people.

"As a younger person, I was really just ignorant and then frightened and then a bit reckless," he says.

A cure for fear of ageing

As well as the cast, it's an all-queer crew who are well-practised at creating a safe space for participants to open up.

In their first week, the group went to Taylor Square in Darlinghurst and were asked if they would have sex with passers-by; yes or no?

Mammalian senior producer and co-director Ryan Lewis, who is in his late 20s, says working on the show has eased his fear of ageing.

"The show is 90 minutes, but my life span covers the first 20 to 25 minutes of the show," Mr Lewis says.

"Then there's just this entire world of possibility that we don't even know."

The show aims to challenge our view of older people as non-sexual.

"We don't think about, say, our grandparents having sex or f***ing. But of course they did. How else would we get here?" he says.

  • All The Sex I've Ever Had is on February 21-26 (with no show on Saturday, February 25) at Darlinghurst Theatre Company.

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