Review: "Kink Haüs" at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
Photo by Theo Cote
Tara Kennedy
Chief Connecticut Critic
Connecticut Critics Circle / ATCA
With a name like Kink Haüs, you probably have all sorts of pictures dancing in your head as to what this show could be. I fully admit that I was intimidated. But I am here to tell you that this show allayed my trepidations while surpassing my expectations. Philadelphia native and dance artist, Gunnar Montana, has outdone himself with a fantastic celebration of modern dance, fashion, sex, and LGBTQIA culture. It’s sexy and splendid; easily the best time you can have in an hour in the East Village for under $30.
This whole thing is an Experience, so let me walk you through it. As you enter the Downstairs at La MaMa, you are greeted by a woman who I thought was Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous, sans accent and vodka bottle. I look around for Adina and Saffy when Patsy Clone asks me, “What’s the password?”
“Tacos,” I reply.
“TACOS?!?” my friend says in disbelief.
“DUH!” I sass back at him because really, is there a more magical word than tacos?
“Guacamole goes with tacos,” Patsy says, and I am let through the divided rubber slabs doubling as curtains into the Kink Haüs Lounge. Neon-colored Solo cups and plastic straws are strewn all over the floor in various states of destruction, glowing under the black light. It’s definitely a club-good-time atmosphere. It feels as if Cher had thrown her farewell tour party here, and we’re hanging out in the aftermath. My friend and I grab our glasses of Malbec and take in the sights. We ask the bartender if the lounge is always like this, and he says that it’s made up especially for this show. There are a lot of people, but it’s not too crowded. Mostly young males, a few women, and a mother and her daughter (don’t ask). The space begins to fill up the closer we get to curtain time. We eventually line up and take our seats.
The setting is reminiscent of a Frankie Goes to Hollywood music video: lots of spray paint art against black walls with colorful textiles thrown about. Loud club music plays over the sound system. Seating is raked and in the round (square?). There are levels behind two sides of the square, where additional brightly-colored clothing is piled up. On one side, I think I see the Pope slumped on the ground, with his back to the wall (I find out later that yes, in fact, it is). There’s a man in a worker’s uniform tidying up the stage areas, readying the space for the performance.
And what a performance!
The show starts off with a fashion show that introduces the various performers in spectacular, outrageous garb (think impossible high heels and light-up fur jackets). Each new segment of the overall performance flows into another, and the primary medium highlighted is modern dance and movement. The dancing and gymnastics that these people do is breathtaking and impressive, but there’s also a performance art element to this show.
Easily, my favorite numbers are the two “Holding Out for a Hero” pieces. The first is a high-energy performance, led by Dylan Kepp, as part of a book-on-tape lesson on “How to be a Homosexual.” Dancers in sequined costumes appear to assist Mr. Kepp with his final class on homosexuality - lip syncing – while two large lit-up signs on opposite sides of the space demand, DANCE FAGGOT. This celebration suddenly takes a dark turn as the Bonnie Tyler anthem ends, and a sinister cover of the same song by Nothing but Thieves plays. In this section, Mr. Kepp and Mr. Montana perform a dance together that is both beautiful and twisted, with acts of caressing and cruelty intermingled.
And don’t even get me started on the gorgeous movement piece, featuring Stephi Lyneice, who performs horizontally on an oiled-up wooden floor, sliding and gliding to a cover of “Addicted to Love” by Skylar Grey; Ms. Lyneice is sensual and balletic. And actual sparks DO fly when Jessica Lyn Daly tries to free herself from chains with a rotating saw, after wrestling with them in her provocative dance piece. Now the warning sign taped to a seat near me makes sense. Overall, the performers are outstanding in their athleticism, grace, and power. While I have attended my share of dance performances, I have yet to see a show like this one, and my friend and I had a marvelous time. We gushed about it all the way to Murray’s Cheese Bar.
If provocative, homoerotic themes make you uncomfortable, this might not be your jam. But for those of you with an open mind looking for a fun, sexy night out, make your way down to the Downstairs at East 4th Street. Tell Patsy Clone I sent you.