Exhibitionism

Mister Z Loves Company: An X-Rated Self-Help Odyssey

In her book Purity and Danger, anthropologist Mary Douglas theorizes that the orifices of the body are dangerous sites of contagion. Purity rules must be established within societies to prevent any infections, either literal or symbolic. Keep this in mind when seeing Mister Z Loves Company: An X-Rated Self-Help Odyssey, produced by Rubber Repertory. Opening with a musical description highlighting the perversions of Mister Z, the coed chorus, dressed in sadomasochist French maid uniforms, sweeps the dilapidated set with anxious fervor, while we await the entrance of this lascivious man. He arrives carrying a candle; we see his face is a mask with an open orifice: the mouth wide and smiling. The first song’s choreographed sexual poses and reference to Crisco prepare us for the onslaught of scatology and shivers. Matt Hislope as Mister Z does indeed love his Company, played by Josh Meyer, who wields the power to please through a lubricated pole tip and glory hole trapped in a locked chest. These men are the creators and directors of this impressive display of salacious excess. A smart strategy to investigate abjection is through stylized mimesis of the obscene; do it with a sharp script and trained performers who pull it off with humor. Hislope and Meyer proffer a feast of abhorrence and tension with meditation mantras mapping personal bliss. Similar to artist Paul McCarthy’s performance landscapes disrupting safe stratification of dirty/clean actions, Mister Z is disturbing and invigorating, shaking Freudian phobias and desires. This show challenges and confronts. When orifices of the body secrete fluids, disease spreads. To maintain social stability, those open places must be sealed and monitored, but if control is sublimated to unlimited inhibition, the body regresses to its biological needs, and civilization may degenerate to instinct. What a fascinating adventure that could be.

This article appears in October 17 • 2003.