Picking porn doesn't make a Pervert

Relationships are complicated at the best of times, and they can turn on a dime at the slightest misinterpretation.

Northern Light Theatre’s artistic director Trevor Schmidt explores this minefield of emotions with Stephen Massicotte’s rewrite of Pervert opening Friday, April 8 for a 10-day run at Varscona Theatre.

Pervert is a risky production at best. Set in a porn emporium, this black comedy shows how two different couples respond to pornography and how it starts to condition their social behaviour.

Tim (Jason Chinn), the slightly jaded night clerk is obsessed with proving that Mike (Doug Mertz), an awkward new customer, has stolen a hot new video and tensions build into rage.

Meanwhile, Tim’s girlfriend, Trish (Mary Hulbert), and Mike’s wife Lisa (Jocelyn Ahlf), discover that the parade of porn in their lives ignites different needs. Floating in and out of the store is Kurt (James Hamilton), an older customer who wavers between porn addict and connoisseur.

“One couple’s relationship is in trouble. The other is stagnant. As they explore the relationship, the gap widens,” explains Schmidt.

He came across Pervert about the time it premiered at Calgary’s Pumphouse Theatre in 2004. Massicotte, who had worked in a porn shop for about a year during his hungry salad days, based the play on his own experiences.

“Six years ago I gave it a prudish read and thought it was a bit vulgar. I wasn’t instilling enough humanness. Now it’s not about the shock value, but people searching for deep human intimacy,” Schmidt says.

As an artistic director that is required to balance a budget, the decision also had elements of pragmatism. “Originally, I didn’t know if it was really right for our community so I took a pass on it.”

What makes Schmidt such a delightful director is he has the cojones to throw caution to the wind and go for it.

Some might be offended with the play’s mature content. “But every time we play against conservatism, people pop out of the woodwork. It appeals to a loyal demographic that wants to see something not squeaky clean and politically correct.”

Part of the attraction is simply that although everyone with a computer has access to readily available pornography on the Internet, nobody talks about it. Coming out of the closet is a big deal. “There is a stigma attached. If you’re a porn viewer, you’re a pervert.”

During his porn shop employment, Massicotte himself kept waiting for the stereotypical trench-coated, dirty pervert to appear. “But there were no perverts. Just people like you and me.”

For Schmidt, the play’s insights into human relationships and the questions it asks far outweigh an offence caused by language. “What is my responsibility to others? That’s the eternal struggle. Do I put myself first or do I put others before me? The sad thing is that in the selfish choice, everyone loses.”