A TWO and a half hour show entitled All The Sex I Ever Had. In German. I wasn’t looking forward to it.

I was in the little known town of Paz, for the little known festival of Paz in the very well known country of Germany.

It may sound churlish to complain if your job involves being sent to arts festivals to watch theatre and listen to music but the fact is that in amongst the jewels there is a great deal of excruciating work.

I seem to have spent a lot of my professional life sitting in blacked out rooms watching people roll around on the floor for no apparent reason.

The signs were not good.

When I arrived the set was a long table, eight microphones and eight people sitting behind them. And what’s more they were all old people. Two and a half hours of old people talking about sex? I’m English. I blush watching Carry On films. This was going to be a tough gig.

What followed was undoubtedly one of the most absorbing and emotional shows I’ve ever had the privilege to watch. Two and a half hour hours felt like two and a half minutes.

Everyone of the people behind the microphones had stories to tell. These stories about love, romance and sex were gripping and poignant, they were moving and beautiful, they were honest, they were brave, they were charming, they were real.

What this company had done was work with eight members of the community and created a narrative, a piece of social history and a compelling drama that absolutely destroyed the prejudices and assumptions that surrounds the taboo of older people and sex. Prejudices that I had happily walked into the room with but now felt embarrassed about.

This was anything but a list of lurid revelations, this was an elegant and generous piece of theatre.

Here’s a revelation for you. Guess what? You don’t stop thinking about sex after you’re 65. Shock, horror. Who’d have thought it, eh?

Of course, older people have fantastic stories to tell and we were treated to all manner of hilarious situations, tragic situations, stories of love, of broken hearts, of wild affairs, of surprises, yearnings, stolen kisses, childhood sweethearts, crushes, secrets, seductions and soaring ecstasy.

I’ve spent four years chasing the company and raising the funds to bring it to the UK and eventually I’ve succeeded.

This summer they arrive for a six week residency in Colchester. The company is called Mammalian Diving Reflex, the show is called all the Sex I Ever Had and I’m recruiting!

If you would like to be one of the participants I would be delighted to talk to you.

You just need to be over 60(ish) and brave enough to try something different.

Email me Anthony@colchesterartscentre.com for a chat and more info. It’s genuinely a life changing opportunity!

ANTHONY ROBERTS, DIRECTOR OF COLCHESTER ARTS CENTRE