Scene Study

Nathan Joe describes his play as a merry-go-round or daisy chain where one character overlaps in each scene till it comes full circle. 

“Structurally it sets up the most sexually active characters first then continuing through to the more sexually articulate characters. The characters dig deeper into their own thoughts about what sex is as the play progresses. By the end in some ways, it’s not about sex at all. It mirrors real life – the more we talk about sex, the more we feel comfortable with it. The dramatic structure evolves to talk about sex in more detail as it progresses, and what sex is, what sex means, what sex feels like – not just physically but emotionally.”
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Read Scene Four from Like Sex below, and answer the questions to investigate what is happening and what the scene might be about. 

Download the scene on the right, read it, and answer the following questions.

1. How does the gender of each character effect their status in the scene?​
2. What is the main source of conflict in the scene? What strategies does each character use to try and overcome the conflict?
3. How was sex portrayed in this scene? Why do you think that was?
4. What stereotypes were present in the scene? How could you tell?
5. How do you think the events in this scene carry through into the next?
6. How would you describe the central theme or message of the scene?'

like_sex_scene_four.pdf
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"Aside from having sex with each other, the characters don’t really link up again. The audience will see what they learned off the person before, and how that echoes into their teaching, and how it has this ripple effect. It’s a collage. It’s a carousel. That’s what makes this play different."
- Chye-Ling Huang