You want me to have full penetrative sex with your son, right?
I just wanted to, you know, check.
Punts is a hilarious and moving new play by Sarah Page about a young man’s sexual awakening and its effect on those who orchestrated it. Drawn from the playwright’s interviews with sex workers, Punts – produced by Kuleshov Theatre (BU21, Cans) – explores love in all its complex and contradictory forms.
Jack, a young man with a learning disability, lives at home, cared for by his devoted parents.
Like most men in their twenties, he has needs – his mates at the rugby club talk about nothing
but getting laid, whilst Jack’s most erotic experience to date is the time he was winked at by the
pretty cashier in Lloyds. Desperate for their son to not feel left out, his parents Alastair and
Antonia decide that they should to bring in a professional. But Julia, the prostitute they hire,
has a far more profound impact on the whole family than they could ever have imagined.
Writer Sarah Page comments, In researching Punts I interviewed a number of prostitutes,
ranging from women on the streets, those employed in Soho walk-ups, to a retired dominatrix
who used to earn an annual income higher than our Prime Minister. All of the women had, at
some point in their career, worked with clients with disabilities. This production explores the
question of whether sex is a human right – which should be accessible to all, whether disabled or
able bodied.
Punts investigates the tensions of familial love, the excitement generated by erotic attachment,
the jealousy of finding yourself loved less than another and the paradox of wanting to look after
those you love while also wanting them to be free.
Punts was selected from over 1,200 entries as a finalist for the international Nick Darke Writers’
Award 2016.
Punts plays at Theatre503 31 May – 24 June 2017
