Weird… but we like it
Out of line Theatre shocks and awes with Jealous/Pervert
Jen Zoratti

Any production that leaves you trying to decide if you’re really freaked out or kind of turned on is a good one.

Jealous/Pervert is just such a production, and the pair responsible are the ever-subversive Mia van Leeuwen and Ian Mozdzen, both of whom pioneered the Out of Line theatre company.

Employing the same avant garde onstage sexuality displayed in 2004’s Peep Show, the duo take it a step further, and the result is an hour-long shock-fest with lots of full frontal nudity, violence, dismembered dolls, simulated onstage screwing, fake bodily fluids and, as promised, dicks.

But Jealous/Pervert isn’t meant to be a low-fi porno. Once you get past the initial discomfort of seeing Mozdzen in all his glory, you realize the dance-drama is actually a psychological modernization of an ancient Egyptian myth.

Jealous/Pervert tells the story of Osairis, who is killed and dismembered by his jealous brother Seth. His wife, Isis, collects the pieces — one important piece in particular — and impregnates herself. The resulting little boy, Horace, later avenges his father’s death, allowing Osairis (and humankind) to be reborn.

Within the myth is the story of a woman (likely Isis) who is betrayed by her lover. The result is a graphically violent and surprisingly beautiful account of destruction and perversion, but also of creation and vitality.

When the role of Osairis isn’t played by the inherently creepy human-sized doll, Mozdzen embodies the king, as well as Horace and Seth. Displaying every range of emotion and doing everything most actors wouldn’t dream of doing onstage — let alone while in the buff — Mozdzen attacked his roles with primal energy but still maintained the sensibility of a classically trained actor.

Never once did it feel silly or awkward for him to bathe himself in baby oil, scream or screw the doll. He seemed amazingly believable despite the unbelievableness of his situation.

Van Leeuwen was beautiful to watch as Isis, and two of the most striking scenes in the piece came courtesy of the less in-your-face actress.

The first was when she played the forsaken woman and asked her lover to describe his affair (in detail) while she acted it out on the doll. The second was when she played Isis and gave birth to Horace by cutting open her pregnant belly and exposing a red doll, which she licked clean.

Though many scenes were intense and even hard to watch, there were moments of wit and perfect comic timing that streamlined the piece and broke the tension (sexual and otherwise). The use of multimedia helped lighten the mood — documentary footage of animals doing it is almost always funny.

That aside, it was the variations on the tango that perfectly captured the essence of the show. The first was a traditional tango featuring Mozdzen and van Leeuwen as innocent new lovers. The second, spiced up by Vav Jungle, was a more sexualized version that escalated in intensity until van Leeuwen pushed Mozdzen away.

It’s definitely not theatre for the squeamish, but Jealous/Pervert managed to prove that jealousy can be the most debilitating human emotion, that beauty comes from destruction, and that sometimes what repels also attracts.