Artfully Obscene bares it all

It's not what you think. Well, maybe a little. Plutonium Playhouse artistic director Thom Fitzgerald went through dozens of film submissions for this opening event of The Sex Festival (see page 35 for more), while board member and playwright Lee-Anne Poole did the same---rating each one from zero to five. "If we both like it, then we show it---the ones that make us laugh or make us horny." Fitzgerald clarifies that this night of homemade porn---ranging from high-end production to more amateur filming---is more accurately described as an evening of erotic videos. "The audience has to be over 18, but it's basically nothing that you'd find on your computer porn tube." Fitzgerald and Poole put together their first Artfully Obscene night during Pride Week in 2007, where The Bus Stop filled up so quickly that they had to add a second show. "It's going to sell out no matter what," says Fitzgerald. "There's a reason we started with the porn---gotta grab 'em at the beginning." Check thecoast.ca and plutoniumplayhouse.com for The Sex Festival listings, on until December 6.