SEATTLE - This is no variety show. This is an all-star production bringing to life a colorful, glittering tale of erotic liberation.

"When I was approached about creating this show, [Artistic Director] Clayton Hibbert told me he wanted the event to have an emotional arc; he wanted the audience to walk away having been changed in some way by the experience," says creator and director ROGER BENINGTON. To achieve this, Benington invented the character of Buttons Du Preez, a shy postal worker with an unusual fetish for fish-eye buttons. Benington hopes the audience will identify with Buttons (if not his particular fetish) and his journey to sexual liberation.

Troubled by the obscurity and specificity of his sexual obsession, Buttons writes to Dan Savage for advice. Immediately after sending his letter, Buttons receives a surprise in the mail: a very large wooden cabinet he's unwittingly inherited from his late aunt, a cabaret chanteuse who lived in Paris in the 1930s. Buttons's journey to sexual freedom gets a jump-start when the cabinet mysteriously comes alive and begins to reveal its hidden secrets.

Just as the cabinet de curiosités of the 17th century housed disparate objects of art, so too this cabinet houses the bevy of distinct performers who grace this production. At first, the acts that emerge from the cabinet are dark, disturbing, and challenging to Buttons. Some are puzzling, others intriguing or alluring. Before long, the ghost of Buttons's freewheeling aunt appears to welcome him, conjuring up a more sensuous, romantic idea of sexuality. She thrusts open the cabinet doors to give Buttons -- and us -- a glimpse into the glittering French cabaret scene where vibrant sexuality was celebrated.

Buttons's reverie is interrupted by the arrival of the latest copy of The Stranger, wherein Dan Savage answers Button's request for guidance. Dan's advice: embrace your sexual proclivities, whatever they be. This wisdom ushers in what Benington calls the "Get Your Freak On" section of the show -- a contemporary mash-up of camp, gender bending and colorful self-expression that gives Buttons the courage to shed his inhibitions and give voice to his innermost desires.

Benington refuses to give away the final events of the story, except to say that it’s loud, fun and irresistible. “We hope to light a fire under the spectators and literally start a party in the audience!”

Performers showcased in this production include international star of burlesque Dirty Martini, Kaleb Haagen-Kerr, Waxie Moon, Miss Indigo Blue, Paula the Swedish Housewife, Elizabeth Rose, Inga Ingenue, Fuchsia FoXXX, The Shanghai Pearl, Paris Original, Jean du Jour, Sydni Deveraux, Pantera, and many others. Seattle theatre designer and Stranger Genius-award winner Jennifer Zeyl will design the cabinet.

More information about the show can be obtained from Artistic Director Clayton Hibbert at clayton@seattleerotic.org and from www.SeattleErotic.org.

The Festival is celebrating its eighth year April 30 to May 2, 2010, at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. Festival tickets may be purchased at BrownPaperTickets (http://www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/1659).


The Seattle Erotic Art Festival supports a vibrant creative community, promotes freedom of expression, and fosters sex-positive culture though public celebration of the arts.

© All Rights Reserved, Contact Info: clayton@seattleerotic.org

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