Past Productions by mutatis mutandis

What Goes Around...

by David Whiteley (adapted from Arthur Schnitzler's Reigen)
directed by David Hersh

For the 2007 Ottawa Fringe Festival, mutatis mutandis delved into the under-the-covers world of human lust with What Goes Around..., directed by David Hersh. The play was an adaptation by David Whiteley of Reigen by Arthur Schitzler - author of the novel on which Eyes Wide Shut was based.

What Goes Around... presents a series of two-character scenes in a merry-go-round of seduction. We follow one character after another as they switch partners and eventually come full circle. The sexual acts are various: secret trysts, courtships, anonymous sexual encounters, one-night stands, and even marital relations.

At the time it was first produced in Vienna, Reigen caused a scandal as it made reference to the transmission of syphilis in all layers of Viennese society. Hersh finds that while we have become more accepting of sexual choice over time, there are still puritanical idealists. "Sex has not lost its sense of intrigue - it is filled with likes, dislikes, and a rainbow of kinks that makes it such fun to explore. We have a diverse cast, in diverse relationships, which presents lust as a human quality that everyone can identify with."

What Goes Around... was nominated for a Rideau Award for Best Original Creation and a Golden Cherry Award for Best New/Original Work.

Cast
Margo MacDonald* - Poet
Emmanuelle Zeesman - Actress
David Hersh - Captain
David Whiteley - Young Man
Alan Jeans - Husband
Kathleen Frost - Young Wife
Alex Josseylyn - Sweet Young Thing
Meagan Smith - Parlour Maid

*appeared courtesy of Canadian Actors' Equity Association