Pere Faura comes out and says “When i was first invited to perform at Dublin Dance Festival I didn’t know what I was going to do so I just called the show Striptease because I figured it would get the biggest audience” (paraphrased (heavily)).
I was seated beside a rotting corpse with snakes for eyes. we talked about trump and RTE player while we waited for the show to start. On my other side was a serious looking angel dressed in a white linen suit. We talked about Jeremy Corbyn and swimming. After a bit our conversation ran out and we sat quietly listening to the background muzak playing over the house PA.
Here Faura begins to dance. He’s dressed in a quintessentially male stripper outfit: black shorts, white shirt, black tie and a fedora. His dance slows down to a crawl every few moments so we, the audience, can examine the movements minutely.
Corpse [telepathically]: I like this because it’s like it’s a show about striptease so we’re examining a striptease. There’s a sense of humour to it.
Faura stops the dance after four minutes. He assures us this is the average length of a striptease, 3-4 minutes.
Angel [telepathically]: He didn’t get all the way naked. This is more tease than strip.
Corpse [whispering]: I dunno. Do they always have to get all the way naked?
Faura gives us a lecture about the meaning of striptease. Striptease is hyperreal, it is a representation of sex that has replaced the act of sex. It is a map that has grown so large as to cover the country it represents.
Angel: [to corpse; telepathically] You said this had a sense of humour but now he’s explaining the joke. I’m a comedian and I know you’re never supposed to explain the joke. One of the rules of comedy is show not tell.
Corpse: Yeah but this isn’t comedy he literally just said it’s a lecture.
Faure disappears into a video projection. In the video projection he is stood in front of a further video projection, this one is of Demi Moore in the film Striptease. He explains to us that Demi Moore’s character is inhabiting a character who’s nature is performing through striptease. You don’t want to get too close to the performance or you’ll see through the guise.
Angel: He is saying that striptease is like acting? Or any other performance?
Corpse: I think he’s saying it’s like that comedian I saw the other day. The guy who afterwards wasn’t funny and didn’t live up to his on stage persona. I wish i didn’t meet him afterwards because instead of a funny charming guy he just seemed like a weirdo. It’s like that but for sexuality.
Angel: Hmmm I dunno. Did you notice how small and quiet he was compared to the video being played? I think I would’ve rather watched the film, it was more enticing.
Corpse: I think that was one of the fundamental aspects of the entire performance imho.
The lights go up and I say to my two friends “Are you going out?” and they said “I think we’re going to hide under these seats and wait for the showing again tomorrow.”