Theatre / rosy carrick
Rosy Carrick’s one-woman show confronts the formative sexual obsessions of her youth
Rosy Carrick is a poet, writer, actor and translator – as well as an esteemed scholar of Vladimir Mayakovsky, the Russian revolutionary poet.
Her award-winning debut theatre show Passionate Machine cast herself as a time-travelling doctor trying – literally – to save herself.
She is now touring the south west with her new show, Musclebound, visiting The Wardrobe Theatre on March 19.
is needed now More than ever
In it, she confronts her own sexual past, diving back into the private erotic fantasies of her youth; an early preoccupation with macho bodybuilders and live action heroes like Dolph Lundgren and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Rosy Carrick in Musclebound – photo: Andre Pattenden
At five years old, Carrick was watching characters like He-Man and Conan the Barbarian being stripped, beaten and humiliated on screen.
This secret obsession laid the groundwork for a sexual life irrevocably shaped by these experiences.
Photo: Sharon Kilgannon
Now, at 40, newly single, and wondering how to advise her teenage daughter on sex and relationships, Carrick revisits her youth through a “a real-life quest for tortured beefcake” – attempting to answer some questions about herself along the way.
“When I was writing Musclebound, I basically set out to write the show I wished I could have seen when I was a teenager,” Carrick explains.
Photo: Sharon Kilgannon
“It’s about me getting to grips with my childhood passion for watching these incredible scenes of hyper-muscular men being abused. About why that dynamic felt so powerful.
“Musclebound takes a playful, candid and highly singular look at sexual power, female pleasure and the politics and principles of orgasm-faking.”
Rosy Carrick and Arnold Schwarzenegger – photo: ©Rosy Carrick
Musclebound (age recommendation 14+) is at The Wardrobe Theatre on March 19 at 7.30pm. Tickets are available at www.thewardrobetheatre.com. Follow @rosycarrick on X.
Main photo: Andre Pattenden
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