An hour long version of this notesapp entry: "Everyone on the bus was obsessed with me (we lurched around a corner, I almost fell and two people tried to help me. Basically group-sex). It was the most touch and genuine concern for my wellbeing I'd felt all week."
Part community gathering, part pole performance, we dance with acts of care, community building and the commodification of intimacy. Stoness uses their past and ongoing experience with sex work, They speak candidly with ex-girlfriends, future wives (friends), family, other sex workers and explore relationships with clients, working together to answer the question; is sex work care work?
We parse the qualities of intimacy, comparing the nature of self-care post session to that of the care extended to clients, friends, the audience. Ultimately asking; how do we care for each other in an increasingly lonely and digitised world?
Absurd humour twirls alongside earnest moments as we build a profile together, taking promo photos, hearing about Stoness’s entry into the industry and cheering their pursuit of an extended butterfly (which hasn't happened since they were 18) on the pole by the end of the show.
Tobi King Bakare and this theatre deserve a shout-out for such a young, diverse audience. There is so much talk about audiences being full of over 60s and why, why can’t theatres get the crowds in to reflect society in general? Well, I’m happy to say that on a rainy Thursday evening, the theatre was completely full.
Caiti Grove on Before I Go in CPT's Spring 2023 season London Theatre Reviews
