After mistakenly seeing her gay best friend’s dick, Sibet unravels in a search for validation, encountering men who amplify her longing but never fulfill it. A darkly funny, physical comedy about a woman nearing 30, spiraling through sex, addiction, and self-loathing.
Four Shows!!
May 23rd
Show: 7pm and 9pm
May 25th
Show: 6pm and 8pm
Tickets: $15
This stand-up burlesque comedy blends raw storytelling, dark humor, and physical performance to explore sex, shame, and self-worth in a way that is as hilarious as it is gut-wrenching. At its core, “Behind” is about a woman on the verge of 30, grappling with a lifetime of self-sabotage and external validation. She’s struggled with alcoholism, shoplifting, and sex work, having grown up rich, posh, and overachieving before spectacularly crashing and burning. She both craves and resents being desired, caught in a spiral of seeking fulfillment from men who never quite satisfy her. This all comes to a head when she accidentally receives a text from her gay best friend of 10 years—containing an explicit photo meant for someone else. The audience never sees the image, only her stunned reaction. What follows is a whirlwind journey through her relationships with men, performed as a series of comedic and emotional vignettes, with each man’s dialogue delivered through voice recordings.
The show’s structure is dynamic, blending high-energy physical comedy with moments of deeply personal vulnerability. The protagonist interacts with a repressed, religious best friend from high school, a single dad who pays her for sex, a 22-year-old boy she becomes infatuated with, a polyamorous sex expert from college, her ex who is 10 years her senior, and her gay best friend. The denouement of the show comes when she begs her gay best friend to sleep with her—only to be rejected, shattering her sense of stability in the one male relationship she truly values.
This show delivers something fresh: a brutally honest yet wildly entertaining exploration of sex and self-worth, told through a lens of physicality, humor, and heartbreak. It speaks to anyone who has ever sought external validation, anyone who has ever felt trapped in their own patterns, and anyone who has ever stared at an unexpected text and thought, “Well, this changes everything.”
The Basement is a nonprofit venue for performance and visual arts, dedicated to fostering a safe, inclusive space for creative expression. Our mission is to engage diverse audiences, with a focus on amplifying POC and queer artists.
For more info, visit thebasementrva.org. All sales are final—no refunds.
Accessibility: The Basement is not currently wheelchair accessible but is working to address this. We do offer single-person genderless restrooms.
Parking: Street and paid lot parking are available. The closest option is the convention center lot ($8).