I Am My Beloved('s): A Verbatim Theatre Inquiry into the Sex Lives of Evangelical Women Staged Reading

I Am My Beloved('s) uses mixed devising and verbatim theatre methods to explore the real-life sexual experiences of North American evangelical women. As a former member of the evangelical community herself, playwright Hillary Sunberg began working on this script in the midst of Trump’s first presidency, trying to process her own feelings about her religious upbringing and the sexual conditioning of women that occurred (and continues to occur) within that culture more broadly. During this process, many themes and questions arose, including questions Hillary asked her participants (“How do you define sexual purity, and what is your relationship to that ideal?”) and questions they asked of her (“Is my inability to orgasm a punishment for sin?”). As the world faces yet another Trump presidency, these oft-silenced stories have only become more relevant.

The interviewees ranged in age (19-78), class, race, marital status, and sexual orientation, and included a wide spectrum of opinions about sex, the church, and the relationship between the two. The stories that emerged—full of heartbreak, humour, trauma, tenderness, and healing––represent honest, often dissonant perspectives that are so often shifted into the shadows. The playwright’s own experiences as a theatre practitioner and ex-evangelical woman are woven throughout, providing a grounding through line with which to express these stories and translate them to a broader audience.

Run time: approx. 90 minutes
Trigger warnings: sexual violence, homophobia, and religious trauma.
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Producer: CDTPS PhD student Hillary Sunberg.