Regional Premiere
Sex with Strangers
By Laura Eason
Directed by Christy Montour-Larson

Olivia, an attractive, talented but underappreciated mid-career writer, is unexpectedly trapped in a secluded cabin with Ethan, a wildly successful and very attractive young blogger, as a fierce winter storm rages outside. Opposites attract and ignite into a night of passion. What could have been just a one-night-stand transforms into something deeper when art, generations, success and online personalities collide, creating real life complications.

Artists

CAST
Olivia: Paige Price
Ethan: Michael Kingsbaker

PRODUCTION TEAM
Scenic Designer: Susan Crabtree
Costume Designer: Kevin Brainerd
Lighting Designer: Shannon McKinney
Sound Designer: Alex Ruhlin
Properties Designer: Tim David
Stage Manager: A. Phoebe Sacks
Assistant Stage Manager: Marlena Schwartz

Go Deeper

Talkbacks

Want to talk with others about the show? Want to hear from the actors about the process behind the play? Talkbacks with artistic staff and cast members follow each performance, starting the Thursday after opening and continuing until Friday of closing weekend. A Curious favorite!

Playwright Interview

Our Playwright in Residence, Emily Dendinger, sat down with Sex with Strangers Playwright Laura Eason for a chat on this show and the state of playwriting today. Read their exchange HERE.

Reviews & News

In “Sex with Strangers,” Opposites Attract Amid Generational Questions
Denver Post Theatre Critic Joanne Ostrow
In the regional premiere directed by Christy Montour-Larson at Curious Theatre, polished performers Michael Kingsbaker as Ethan and Paige Price as Olivia command rapt attention for two hours onstage and leave us mulling the story for some time afterward.

Sex with Strangers Scores at Curious Theatre Company
Westword Theatre Critic Juliet Wittman
Though the two share both a physical passion and a passion for writing, Olivia can never be sure exactly who she’s making love to, and Ethan has to measure her diffidence about putting her work forward against the fiercely burning ambition she denies. Each of them is essentially having sex with a stranger.

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Review
Mark Stevens, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers
Ethan is all Kindle and e-books—a fast-writing man on the move.Olivia is all leather-bound classics and the smell of an old book. She’s caution and contemplation.First, mud flies between these two—and then sparks.Laugh lines are piled high, but so are some razor sharp observations about different attitudes toward publishing, marketing and ownership of art.

Tall Tales: Review from Beyond Telluride
Mark Stevens, Telluride Inside… And Out
As staged by The Curious Theatre Company, “Sex With Strangers” is a compelling, witty, sassy and fun.

[Now Playing] Sex with Strangers
Out Front Colorado Writer Paul Bindel
Price and Kingsbaker carry the two-person show with believable passion and arresting vulnerability, as their characters try to determine if their connection is more of an exchange or a relationship.

Review from Colorado Drama
Colorado Drama Critic Bob Bows
Can two people, almost a generation apart, with totally different notions of writing and erudition, coexist, let alone maintain a relationship? Playwright Laura Eason wanted to find out, so she brought Ethan (Michael Kingsbaker) and Olivia (Paige Price) together at a remote writer’s retreat in the middle of a snowstorm, with the Internet down.

“House of Cards” writer Laura Eason’s play opens in Denver soon
Denver Post Theatre Critic Joanne Ostrow
Laura Eason is one of the most prolific and successful dramatists in the country — and one of the few women who can claim as much. Her “Sex with Strangers” was among the most produced plays in the country this season. The success has exceeded her expectations.

Paige Price: From Broadway to Aspen to Curious’ ‘Sex with Strangers’
Denver Center for the Performing Arts NewsCenter
Why does Sex with Strangers matter? “Because the writing is really smart. It’s really satisfying to do a play that has really substantial themes and words in it. The whole play is actually about not only relationships but also words and how people express themselves. It deals with social media as well, but for me it underscores how important it is to be able to be in a room with somebody and not just on a screen.”

In Good Taste Denver Visits Curious
In Good Taste Denver
“This is our first experience with Curious Theatre Company, known for pushing the envelope. They did and it worked, providing social commentary on what intimacy really is and when and how it is developed.”

Content Advisory

Brief backside nudity and implied sexual actions.

Minor language.

Sponsors

SEASON SPONSORS
Shamos Family Foundation
The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust

SEASON PATRONS
Diana and Mike Kinsey
Elizabeth Steele
Carol E. Wolf

PLATINUM SHOW SPONSORS
Les Crispelle and Glen Tiedt
Tobi Watson

GOLD SHOW SPONSOR
Isabelle Clark

SILVER SHOW SPONSOR
Gwenn and Michael Potts