Fuck You! You Fucking Perv! is going to bruise you. This SummerWorks show will disgust you, accuse you of horrible things, spit in your eye, and tell you where you can stuff your good intentions. But while her darts may sting, performer Leslie Baker hits every single one of her targets, nailing the audience square between the eyes.
And, frankly, we deserve the punishment.
Fucking Perv! lives at the intersection of mental illness and sexual abuse, exploring how these experiences relate to each other– and how we, as a society, drop the ball.
If you’ve never felt queasy about the casual way we tell pedophile jokes (“What’s better than an 18-year-old? Two 9-year-olds, hyuck hyuck hyuck!”), the prevalence of sexual imagery in our culture, or the way we treat people with mental illness as damaged goods, Baker makes a very compelling argument that you should. By five minutes in, she had my total agreement — and it only gets darker from there.
The show consists of a series of vignettes: some as long as 3-4 minutes, some as short as a flash of light. A few recurring characters and situations emerge, but I’ll let you savour the surprise.
This show is an object lesson in the power of disorientation as a theatrical technique. You will squirm and you will churn, but this isn’t just shock-theatre, and Baker’s message won’t allow you to treat this as cringe pornography: you are not the victim here.
Details
Fuck You! You Fucking Perv! plays through Sunday, August 17th at the Lower Ossington Theatre Studio. (100A Ossington Avenue, between Dundas and Queen.)
Be aware that this show explores challenging and troubling themes; features frank depictions of sexuality, sexual violence and self-harm; and involves on-stage use of peanut butter.
Remaining Performances
Sunday August 10, 7:00pm
Tuesday August 12, 4:00pm
Wednesday August 13, 6:00pm
Thursday August 14, 8:00pm
Saturday August 16, 10:00pm
Sunday August 17, 3:00pm
All individual SummerWorks tickets are $15 at the door (cash only). Tickets are available online at http://summerworks.ca, by phone at 416-907-0468, or in person at the SummerWorks Info Booth – located at The Theatre Centre (1115 Queen Street West) August 5th-17th from 10AM – 7PM (Advance tickets are $15 + service fee)
Several money-saving passes are available if you plan to see at least 3 shows
Photograph of Leslie Baker by Bettina Hoffmann.