Interview:
Matthew Crehan Higgins: You Might Just Have A Chance With This Guy
Casual Sex Diary? Uh... how autobiographical is this?
After A MILLION LITTLE PIECES, I think we're all really careful about how we classify our work. Everything that is described in The Casual Sex Diary actually happened to me, but in order to make it work on stage I had to manipulate the timeline a bit and combine some things that happened with different people. Ultimately, I would call it a work of fiction based on my real experiences.
Folks have different views on casual sex... if someone doesn't think sex should be casual, will they still have a good time?
The main reason for creating this show was to give people a chance to look at casual sex in a different way. And no matter what people admit, hearing the intimate details about someone's sex life tends to keep interest. But it's a balanced view too. I have definitely been in situations that have been dangerous or questionable in the name of getting off. Even though the show looks mainly to the humor of it all, it's honest in acknowledging that there are some aspects that are actually quite serious.
We're excited about having a world premiere from an award winning writer! What made you decide to start it off in St. Louis?
I want to see the arch! In all honesty though, it's really interesting to see how people react to your work in regions other than where you primarily live and work. Even though the hope is that the overall theme will prevail, it's fascinating to see what parts of that resonate more in other regions. This time I'm excited to see the way people outside of my homebase react weeks before doing the show at home.
Let's have the MattCH bio in about four sentences.
Matthew Crehan Higgins is a little bit good at a lot of things. He owes everything he's ever done to having incredibly supportive parents. He can juggle while eating an apple.
Four fun things about the show...
(1) Well, it's about sex.
(2) It's honest.
(3) It's gives you that warm feeling just below your tummy.
(4) It's a chance to laugh at something that makes us uncomfortable.
Do you think casual sex teaches us anything about ourselves (or our partner...s?)
Without a doubt. Committing intimate acts with casual strangers is an incredible opportunity to view oneself at the absolute core. Despite sexuality pervading so many other parts of our identity, people are still very scared to talk about it and act on it.
Doing so with people you'll likely never see again provides the opportunity to truly act on those secret desires. People tell me often that I have done nothing more than desensitize myself to intimacy. I believe that in seeing myself through the eyes of more than 100 men, I'm hypersensitive to the different levels of intimacy and non-intimacy that exist.
