Madison Young Revives Annie Sprinkle’s “Post Porn Modernist” Sex-Theater Piece With Her Re-Envisioned “Reveal All Fear Nothing”
by Heather Cassell
What if you could act out all of your dirtiest, deepest, sexiest secrets before an entire audience? Sound scary? Sound titillating?
Madison Young is doing just that in her adaptation of famed porn and sex educator Annie Sprinkle’s “Post Porn Modernist” performance piece in her show, “Reveal All Fear Nothing: A Journey in Sex, Love, Porn and Feminism.”
The world premier of the one-woman show opens Valentine’s Day weekend, February 12 – 14, at the Armory in San Francisco, California before Madison takes it on the road to other cities, New York in April, then Chicago, and maybe Europe this summer, she tells Luna Luna.
The multimedia performance and experimental theater piece directed by Sophia La Paglia is staged in a 100-seat pop-up theater in the Armory’s Roman Bath.
“It feels so right to be presenting this piece for the first time ever right here in San Francisco,” says Madison, “thrilled” to be opening her latest work at the Armory and in San Francisco, in the news release. “Many sexual adventures, which I explore in ‘Reveal All,’ started right here at the Armory and in San Francisco. This city and this building have played a huge part in my sexual evolution.”
The performance will also be live streamed so people can watch it online.
“I’m thrilled. I’m really happy. It sounds like a win-win because it is something that I wanted to see get done because I was curious as an artist how it would work and she’s the perfect person to do it,” Annie tells Girls That Roam.
Madison is a 35-year old self-identified queer artist who moved to San Francisco in her early 20’s to start her “journey into sex work.” In 2003, she met Annie and they eventually became like family, she tells the Bay Area Reporter.
Madison, who was a theater major in college is producing and performing the piece, collaborated with Annie, whom she endearingly calls her “fairy art mother,” in writing “Reveal All Fear Nothing.”
“Developing this piece, “Reveal All,” with Annie and her passing down this great legendary work [is what] really made room for sex workers to start telling their own stories,” says Madison.
“Reveal All Fear Nothing” was in the back of her mind since 2005, she tells Luna Luna. It finally started to become a reality while she was camping with Annie, her partner in life and art Beth Stephens, her husband James and their daughter Emma, and they were hanging out talking about how she wanted to write a play and perform an experimental theater piece.
“Oh my god, you should use the “Post Porn Modernist Show” script! I’ve been wanting someone to do this for years!” she says Annie said to her.
It was the second time the conversation came up between the two women. A decade earlier they had talked about doing “Post Porn Modernist: Next Generation.” Annie handed her the script and they were off collaborating on what became “Reveal All Fear Nothing.”
“So really, this is exploring my story and feminism and porn and sexuality and BDSM, but through the same format as “Post Porn Modernist,” Madison tells Luna Luna.
Like Annie, Madison incorporates humor to break up intense scenes such as a “Blow Job Ballet,” where she confronts her 20 worst sex scenes.
Other scenes include confronting “sex worker and porn stigma” where her character can’t decide on which dildo she loves more, so “she finally decides that she is not willing to live without either of them and engulfs both the cocks at once.”
“The ballets, in both Annie’s work and in mine, illustrate that we are not victims and that we confront our fears, our pain and we persevere through, we live through, and we come out the other side of it … dancing, living, still full of light and love,” she says.
The graphic body-based performance art includes an anal fisting performance piece, blow-job ballet, and a climactic orgasmic ritual, which has been handed down from Annie to Madison, according to the news release.
She’s aiming to “crack wide open the sexual underground worlds of BDSM, pornography, and kink, all while demystifying and celebrating these often misunderstood, and misrepresented, communities and movements,” according to the release.
“It’s going to be a really difficult performance. There’s a lot of the body-based performance art that I really enjoy doing, and just in bondage and performance in general, I like endurance work. I like pushing the boundaries of our body. Finding our strength, what we’re capable of moving through emotionally,” says Madison.
“Experiencing things really physically and viscerally makes the audience feel something emotionally. And there’s a lot of that in this piece,” she continues. “It has some funny parts, like the Blowjob Ballet, and it has some parts that are really intense, and it deals with some not-so-great sexual experiences that happened, too. It really tackles all those things, both emotionally and visually, and also physically. It’s going to be a really unique experience for everyone who’s there.”
“She’s doing something more extreme on stage, something that I could never do,” says Annie praising Madison’s re-envisioning of her classic that took Annie to 19 countries for nearly five years.
“I’m really happy to seeing it being revived and she’s going to do an amazing job,” says Annie, who calls Madison her “porn art daughter.” Unfortunately, Annie won’t be able to see Madison’s premier of her classic work because she will be in Austin, Texas.
“I feel like she’s really passing the torch to me with this, and I really want to do it justice!” Madison tells Luna Luna.
Madison’s performance has received acclaim from Academy award winner Diablo Cody and comedian Margaret Cho.
“Madison brings some universal truths to light,” says Diablo.
Margaret calls Madison’s work “an incredible and singular force in the world of art” whose “individualism, innovation, insight, and innate intelligence … is downright inspirational.”
“Reveal All Fear Nothing: A Journey in Sex, Love, Porn and Feminism” plays February 12 – 14 at the Armory, 1800 Mission Street in San Francisco, California. Doors open at 7 p.m. The show begins at 8 p.m. This is a 21+ only performance. Tickets are $20 – $338.59 and are available at www.eventbrite.com/e/madison-youngs-reveal-all-fear-nothing-a-journey-in-sex-love-porn-feminism-tickets-19972820243.
Join the VIP Experience following the show. Madison will host an exclusive after party at 10 p.m. at the Armory Club, 1799 Mission Street, sponsored by Good Vibrations. VIPs will experience a red carpet cocktail party, intimate Q&A with Madison, photo ops, and signings with Madison, and will also receive a decadent swag bag.
While you’re at the Armory, take a 90-minute tour of Kink. Tours are led by employees for $25 generally and $50 Valentine’s Day, not including booking fees. Purchase tickets here, general: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/february-2016-sf-armorykinkcom-studios-tour-registration-20712932940, Valentine’s Day: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/valentines-day-tours-2016-sf-armorykinkcom-studios-tour-registration-20907556063 or contact or for more information, visit www.armorystudios.com/tours.
Book your next adventure with Girls That Roam Travel. Contact Heather Cassell at Girls That Roam Travel at Travel Advisors of Los Gatos at 408-354-6531 or 415-517-7239 or at .
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