A controversial play that recently premiered in London’s West End examines the issue of sex tourism in Jamaica, which attracts flocks of lonely women seeking affairs with young black men. Is this sex vacation sleazy or just harmless romantic vacation? The Royal Court Theater in London, often a site of controversy, presents playwright Tanika Gupta’s play. sugar mummies, starring Lynda Bellingham as one of four middle-aged women who come to Jamaica to try male prostitution. And there’s lots and lots of sex in the play. even before sugar mummies opened ignited a heated debate about female sex tourism: is it just harmless fun, a win-win business transaction? Or is this rank exploitation and, if so, of whom and by whom? The victims are the women who believe declarations of true love; Or are the victims the poor and unemployed youth who make them? Why should female sex tourism be seen in a different light than male sex tourism, which is often characterized as sleazy macho crap? and it does sugar mummies perpetuate a racist myth of hypersexual black men?
The play takes place in the context of a Jamaican all-inclusive resort on Negril Beach, where the hero Leroy explains that for gigolos it’s a fun and easy way to make money; and for women it’s a “really good love” thing. English ladies who come to Negril complain that the men at home are cold, selfish, unflattering, and mechanical; Gigolos know how to make the ladies feel good. Besides, everyone in Jamaica is poor, and lonely English ladies look like millionaires by comparison. Gigolos do not charge a fixed price, they are not really prostitutes. There is a tacitly agreed upon but mutual deception that underlies a client-gigolo relationship. Payment is never mentioned, as this would destroy the illusion that she is the most beautiful woman he has ever met and that he is madly in love with her. But after charming his wife and offering to be her guide, the gigolos set about extracting as much money as they can, sometimes subtly.
sugar mummies It opens with two 22-year-old gigolos, Leroy and Sean, seeing two white women in their forties who have just arrived. Leroy warns them against the Jamaican men, who will try to harass and swindle them. Apparently genuinely concerned about the women’s welfare, he and Sean offer to show them around and take care of them. The women protest that they’re so old, but Leroy replies, “You’re eternal. In Jamaica, real men like cats, not kittens. Mature, beautiful women like you.” Men are funny and very appreciative; and women think, “What the hell, you only live once.” Lynda Bellingham is excellent as Maggie, a broken, tragic woman who is a regular adult sex tourist on vacation. Playwright Gupta explains that her purpose was to explore why these women feel so lost that they must pay for affirmation. The humor stems from the pathos of sad middle-aged women who believe that beautiful men in their twenties have truly fallen in love with them at first sight. sugar mummies it’s rough, steamy, and a lot of fun.