Mr Truth: I do find this erotic
19 April 2018

by Drew Rowsome -

There is a repeated - escalating in hilarity each time - moment in Mr Truth, when a character makes a blanket statement the "everyone" enjoys a specified kink or fetish. The other character denies vehemently that "that" is part of her sexual repertoire. And then her eyes dart to the predilection in question, indicating that she has at least considered it. And if not previously considered, is at that moment intrigued.

The riff surfaced in my mind, and I chuckled, as I was about to write this opening sentence of this review: "All of us have kinks or fetishes that are as benign or as bizarre as they are often denied." A blanket statement. But one that is as accurate as Mr Truth's mission statement:

Whenever you tell yourself "I DO NOT FIND THIS EROTIC" and a little snag churns your gut and whispers that you're in denial, Mr Truth is with you.

Mr Truth - from the moment Alaine Hutton bounds on stage with boundless deliberately awkward energy and plans to rev up the audience -is an uneasy combination of sketch comedy and performance art. The serious ideas and the set piece laughs are meant to rub against each other, create a friction that accentuates the other. At times it works brilliantly, at others it is a leap too fresh and unfamiliar to be made easily. The comic segments explore benign and bizarre kinks and fetishes: nasal penetration, diapers, suburban bliss, furniture impersonation, tentacles, and "mindful fingering" (aka "muffing"). There is also a singing cervix and some satirical nightclub dancing.

These are interspersed with a podcast wherein a man describes his descent into an obsessive kink, a rape/abduction fantasy that is blurring the lines between consensual and non-consensual. It begins comical and thoughtful, gets very dark, and then becomes a very twisted punchline. As well there is a hooded phallic figure with a vaginal face, who glides through the proceedings, full of comic menace. The creators of Mr Truth are juggling a lot of dangerously explosive concepts and they almost pull it into a powerful whole.

But that is the impetus behind The Riser Project of which Mr Truth is the opening production, to give a theatrically innovative show a full production. The creators and performers, Lauren Gillis (The Marquise of O, All's Well That Ends Well) and Hutton, are Lester Trips (Theatre) a company that "devises a bouffonesque approach to character deliberately maddening dramaturgy, and a physical foundation stemming from training in butoh-based embodiment." The Riser Project is the perfect place to expand the Mr Truth project, refine it and present it to an audience. While Mr Truth may not be fully formed or even completely coherent, it has a quirky, kinky heart that is beating to be expressed and experienced.

Both Hutton and Gillis are gifted clowns, switching characters with either full costume changes or the simple adoption of an attitude, posture or placement of a baseball cap or wig. Occasionally they break the fourth wall for a quick laugh that breaks the flow, but emphasizes the gender politics. The gloriously crisp and evocative video projections by Peter Demas showcase Hutton and Gillis in another medium at which they are as adept. Both are billed as "Co-Writer/Deviser" as well as performers but there is not a director credited, just two "outside eye"s: Justin Miller (Pearle Harbour's Chautauqua) and Ted Witzel (The Marquise of O, All's Well That Ends Well, La Ronde), both brilliant artists with their own quirks and kinks.

As a conceptual framework, quirky and kinky works well, and a strong theatrical restructuring might erase some of the charm. Or it might get the point across more effectively and enhance both the comedy and the horror. The Riser Project productions are quite likely to re-surface and grow into more mainstream and/or critical hits. It will be intriguing to see how Mr Truth mutates and just how nasty and kinky Lester Trips can get.