This is Your Dramaturgy: Joely Fielding @Buzzcut

This Is Your Sex Life is an autobiographical performance that borrows from live art, storytelling & cabaret. The audience hear and see my experiences of my sexuality - from being 10 years old with a fetish for rope, through to my most recent significant experiences with my alter-ego – Ray Taken. 

I make this work because the way that we are taught to think and feel about sex is not only bullshit but is damaging and incredibly dangerous. I make this work because free & healthy sexual expression should not be a luxury reserved for a portion of the population, because I should not have to cross my fingers and hope for pleasure. 



What is it about Buzzcut that attracted you to perform as part of it?

Whilst developing This Is Your Sex Life (working title: Pornapparition) through 2015, I decided that I wanted to get the work to its first full draft by early 2016. The plan was then to try and present this draft through 2016, at festivals in particular, in order to learn about the work and myself in it through the experience of sharing it, and through more explicit feedback in following conversations.

When planning which festivals/events to apply for, Buzzcut was top of the list. I attended Buzzcut for the first time in 2015 and had such a wonderful experience. I got to see some fantastic work that influenced my practice for the year ahead, but more important than that, for me, it was the friendliest festival I had ever been to. 

There was a real openess that in turn seemed to encourage visitors of the festival to chat, share their experiences, and make connections. With this I felt Buzzcut would be a fantastic test-bed for the work outside of my region, particularly as the festival is so successful at welcoming the community in Govan and encouraging conversations.