“The Pleasure Playhouse. The name conjures up smokey back rooms with salacious activities in dark corners.
It was a busy Friday night- the streets were crammed with food stalls, people milling, and queueing outside cafe doors. I tracked back and forth looking for the Playhouse until, with the help of a stall holder, I eventually found the cinema whose exterior was festooned with images of dragons. I entered a darkly lit foyer and followed steps ascending to a bar where I found myself squeezed into a room full of people, some standing drinking at the bar.

I worried how the presence of people drinking might impact the coming performance. I knew it was a serious undertaking, and feared it might unseat its intent. After some time you emerged through the crowd, carving a striking figure in your voluminous black robes– an unlikely image in a bar. I recognised a few people, only- one of them Katya Petayeska, who stepped forward at your beckoning and knelt down.
There was an intense physical charge between you. You began whipping her with your hair. I could see from her reaction that she was being hit quite hard. This was not play acting it was quite forceful, her body jerking in reaction to each blow.

Others then stepped forward and followed in her stead. I was uncertain who was a designated volunteer and who was self selected from the audience. This uncertainty gave an edge to the performance, dispelling any thought that this might be a rehearsed enactment whose sequence of steps and participants had been pre-determined. Your gesturing to the subjects was smooth and minimal, with participants succumbing to your command.

I was curious to know their motivations-how much they were wanting to be part of the ritualistic nature of the performance, how much there was a desire to be beaten, and how much a seeking for a cleansing, a spiritual prompt or guide?
None of these were apparent to me, sitting on the outside.

The name and perhaps historic reference, of the playhouse-Pleasure, Playhouse and the sight of the pole dancing pole, crossed my mind, but didn’t dominate it. Your intense focus, ensured that the performance didn’t veer off in that direction.

The migration of the audience to the upstairs space, marked a different tone. The room was set up with speakers, lights and sound and tiered seating, making it a more formally staged event. Your weaving through the audience and engaging more ‘subjects’ helped maintain an intimate link with it, whereas the part where you performed on the stage seemed to align more with theatrical conventions.
Your energy in this space was wild and intense, evoking the idea of a trance, so whilst you were interacting closely with the audience you also seemed in another realm.

It’s quite an endeavour to take on aspects of a traditional ritual in a bar, or site of entertainment, or anywhere where the audience is unfamiliar with the original context. I suspect that in a gallery space, or non theatrical space, there are more clues to the original source-images, the presence of hair (as on one occasion where you did an installation), and the actual talking about the rituals and their context.

Even though the Pleasures Playhouse was a very different setting, the audience did nevertheless appear to remain engaged throughout. I am very curious what it is they are connecting to. Is there, as in many music concerts, a sense of awe generated from being in a crowd and being transported into some other unfamiliar space. I would have loved to ask.”