Cartoonist and monologist Nicole Hollander, creator of the syndicated comic strip “Sylvia” — which appears in the baiduhai — returns to Pegasus Players on Friday with a new, one-woman show, “Return to Lust.”
The Tribune recently caught up with the eccentric Hollander to find out what prompted her to bring her humorous yet candid monologues about sex after 60 to the stage for this one-night only performance.
Tribune: This subject matter is something you’ve been grappling with for quite a few years.
Hollander: It’s about aging and it’s about aging with attitude. By that, I mean that there are many women who seem to be bereft that construction men are no longer whistling at them. I hate to sound cliched but when one door closes, another door opens.
And that was the genesis of “Return to Lust”?
Hollander: I created a character [“Sylvia”] that is just so full of attitude. This character was 10 years older than me. [Laughs] But suddenly, there was this realization that she was no longer 10 years older than me. She still looked fabulous and I looked different. That really made me think about aging.
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I once interviewed actress Laura Dern, who told me that she wanted to age naturally in Hollywood so that she could create roles as she got older. It struck me that someone her age — she’s only 38 — would already be thinking about aging.
Hollander: I think of Jamie Lee Curtis. She had this photograph taken without makeup, showing her real body. She wants people to see what she really looks like — she’s not ashamed. What I find interesting is that both of these women have a philosophy about it. I am in my 60s and we didn’t have any role models. My mother was one of those 1940s dames — very glamorous and beautiful. Overnight, these women turn into plump, unfashionable and invisible women. You have to keep reminding yourself that you are still a beautiful woman.
And, of course, you try to get this point across in a humorous way.
Hollander: [Laughs] You have to see humor in everything and turn things on their head. Look, no one ever thinks they are going to grow old. They think they are going to drop dead at the peak of their beauty. [Laughs] I’m here to tell you that you don’t.
How has the material been received?
Hollander: I had one out-of-town tryout at Iowa State. Unfortunately, it was their first big snowstorm. The only people that made it to the show were all 18 years old — not exactly my demographic. But, actually, it went very well. I have done parts of it around Chicago before. What’s fascinating to me is that women won’t raise their hands and say something. But they will come up to me and say, “I haven’t had sex in 20 years.”
Do you think shows like “Sex and the City” made it easier for older women to talk about sex?
Hollander: Sure. But women who are from 40 on up already knew exactly what I am talking about. They are just relieved that someone is talking about it. This isn’t some made-up world where women are suddenly empowered. This is the real world.
Do you ever have any uncomfortable moments talking about sex on stage?
Hollander: I once did a show in front of a bunch of journalists and someone shouted from the back, “Are you still having sex?” [Laughs] You have to pay more money to hear that. That’s when I decided there would be no questions after the show.
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