‘Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus’ arrives in Ames

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

Haley Brase

Laughing from experience or seeing what to look forward to, Peter Story’s performance of “Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus” will make people nod their heads, recollecting past or present relationships.

“Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus,” is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5 at Fisher Theater.

Both sexes have their own opinions about how a relationship should go, but the performance, based off of New York Times number one best-selling book of the decade by John Gray, will explain how to compromise to fulfill each sex’s needs with a humorous environment created by Story.

“It [the tour] is like a snowball rolling thing so far, but in a good way,” Story said.

The show is popular and continues to be more well known. There are dates set through 2016 for the show and Story is eager to perform.

“It is a great experience for me, since I love to travel,” Story said.

Story has visited close to 40 of the 50 states, performing “Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus” for about two years. In February, he has completed around 200 performances since he started the tour in 2013.

Having 12 years of professional acting experience, Story knows how to keep each show as new as possible.

“I keep the performances fresh, so it’s a special show just for them,” Story said. “I’m not a robot.”

The script was written by award-winning playwright Eric Coble of Ohio. Coble has written plays that have been performed in all 50 states and other continents.

The script may be based off of the book, but Story puts his own spin on the show.

“When they hear the title, they get worried they’ll be in an informational meeting,” Story said. “[In the performance], I do a lot of storytelling, which is what I’m best at.”

Not only couples will find the show amusing. Teenagers or older generations, single or not, will find the show to be comical and may learn something.

“The reaction is the same all over the country. People nod their heads and elbow each other in the ribs,” Story said.

Without humiliating anyone, Story likes to have audience participation. He asks for suggestions or volunteers about the subject he is on and the audience is free to shout out ideas or volunteer themselves.

“I’ll find a couple and try to reenact their anniversary by myself without humiliating them,” Story said.

He explains relationships realistically through acting out scenes and humorously talking about what a couple may go through on a daily basis.

As Story arrives in Ames for the first time, he is excited to visit and perform Feb. 5 at Fisher Theater. Tickets are $45 each. They can be purchased at the door or can be found on www.ticketmaster.com.