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HBO’s Sex and the City stopped production in 2004 before moving to the big screen, but Seattle’s Sex in Seattle continues to deliver new episodes on the live stage.
Sex in Seattle is the country’s longest-running episodic play and people from all over Seattle attend the sold-out performances regularly. After each show they are left curiously waiting until the next episode to find out how the romantic – and often erotic – lives of the four Asian American women characters pan out.
Using humor and drama, Sex in Seattle aims to portray contemporary Asian Americans in a truer light, while addressing the issues of womanhood, sexuality, struggles, identity, relationships, and perceptions. That’s a lot of responsibility, but co-founder, Kathy Hsieh and her crew soon found out that they were the ones that could take it on.
When Hsieh and her team first started, they didn't even know if they’d last beyond one episode. It was unknown how the public would receive the script and how interested they’d be in the characters. “The fact that we'll be doing 20 episodes is pretty amazing,” said Hsieh. (Episode 20 will launch in late 2011).
With only two shows a year, they’ve kept audiences sitting on the edge of their seats for the last 10 years. To celebrate Sex in Seattle’s 10-year anniversary this spring the crew delivered episode 19: “Sex in Seattle 19: The One That Got Away,” which plays at the Richard Hugo House, an intimate theater in Capitol Hill.
Episode 19 unveiled if the four main characters Tess, Chloe, Elizabeth, and Jenna had finally found true love. It also explored how thoughts of the “one that got away” can interfere with even the happiest of relationships, and asked how can reality ever compete with the person of one's dreams?
Because Sex in Seattle is a locally written, visitors to Seattle learn about places to visit, eat, and play in Seattle and gain insight into Seattle’s dating scene.
Sex in Seattle is for both women and men and includes a diverse crew of local actors and actresses from the Pacific Northwest. Critics have called Sex in Seattle “groundbreaking” not just for it’s ability to address Asian stereotypes but also for it’s growing popularity over the years across generations and ethnicities.
In the beginning it was a challenge to attract audiences. “[We had to overcome the challenge of] getting our name out there and making sure people knew it wasn't porn,” said Lorna Chin, one of the producers. With the name Sex in Seattle, it was both a hook for mainstream audiences but also against the grain when it came to Asian American theater.
The women also had other plans to make waves in the local theater community. In addition to the Sex in Seattle series, under the name of SIS Productions, the crew expanded their scope and has presented four Northwest premieres of new Asian American plays and five Asian American playwright festivals.
They’ve always made it a point to help develop local talent in all aspects of theater, keeping a revolving door of actors, producers, writers and other theater staff. “Our operating model is definitely more tribal and collaborative and like a team than having a top-down structure,” said Hsieh. “But working through some of the strategies to try to make sure everyone had a voice and felt like they were heard took a lot of effort and trial and error.”
As for the exit strategy, tt was when they hit episode 15 of Sex in Seattle that they decided to figure out a timeline for closing out the series. It wasn’t because they didn’t think they could keep it going, but more because they wanted to end at a good place for the characters in the show while it was still popular and make sure they didn’t overstay their welcome with audiences.
The grand finale of Sex in Seattle will happen in 2012, says Hsieh, and followed by a new, large-scale production 2013. SIS will also continue to produce new Asian American theatre plays and run the Asian American Writers Group to develop playwrights locally.
Sex in Seattle is rated "PG-16" for sexual innuendo and saucy situations. Visit http://www.sis-productions.org .
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